Merck & Pfizer tie-up with Verastem to develop ovarian cancer drug
pharmafile | March 4, 2016 | News story | Medical Communications |
German drug major Merck along with Pfizer has joined forces with Verastem to develop the trial drug candidate avelumab to treat advanced ovarian cancer.
Alise Reicin, head of global clinical development at Merck, said, “Through this collaboration, we hope to advance our understanding of how FAK inhibition may complement our development program for avelumab, with the ultimate goal of potentially achieving better outcomes for women with ovarian cancer. Combination strategies in immuno-oncology offer significant promise for patients in need. Through our collaboration with Verastem, we hope to accelerate our understanding of avelumab and its potential as a combination therapy with FAK inhibition for patients fighting ovarian cancer.”
The study will be done combining avelumab with Verastem’s trial focal adhesion kinase (FAK) inhibitor. Avelumab is currently under clinical investigation across a broad range of tumor types. Early stage trials are expected to begin in the second half of 2016.
No financial terms were disclosed.
Chris Boshoff, vice president and head of early development, translational and immuno-oncology at Pfizer Oncology, said, “Through this collaboration, we hope to advance our understanding of how FAK inhibition may complement our development program for avelumab, with the ultimate goal of potentially achieving better outcomes for women with ovarian cancer.”
FAK is a protein which is often overproduced in tumors, enabling cancer cells to evade attack by the immune system. According to pre-clinical research FAK inhibition can modulate the balance of immune cells in the tumor, increasing the presence of cytotoxic T cells in the tumor and decreasing the presence of immunosuppressive T regulatory cells.
Anjali Shukla
