Daiichi Sankyo Enters Worldwide Licensing Agreement with Boston Pharmaceuticals for a Highly Selective RET Inhibitor for Solid Tumors

TOKYO; BASKING RIDGE, N.J.; and CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Aug. 28, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Daiichi Sankyo Company, Limited (hereafter, Daiichi Sankyo) and Boston Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (hereafter, Boston Pharmaceuticals) today announced they have entered into a worldwide licensing agreement for Daiichi Sankyo's novel RET inhibitor, DS-5010.

DS-5010 is a highly selective and potent RET (ret proto-oncogene) kinase inhibitor in late preclinical development. RET rearrangements and activating mutations are associated with several types of cancer, including non-small cell lung cancer, colorectal cancer and thyroid cancer.^1,2,3

Under the terms of the agreement, Daiichi Sankyo grants Boston Pharmaceuticals worldwide rights for the research, development, manufacturing and commercialization of DS-5010. Daiichi Sankyo will collaborate with Boston Pharmaceuticals to complete preclinical studies to support an Investigational New Drug Application to regulatory authorities and initiation of the clinical program, after which Boston Pharmaceuticals will be responsible for all activities related to DS-5010. Daiichi Sankyo will receive an upfront payment and is eligible for clinical, regulatory and sales milestone payments, as well as royalties on net sales worldwide. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

"We continue to actively prioritize and manage our growing oncology portfolio to ensure that promising compounds are supported with appropriate resources, either within Daiichi Sankyo Cancer Enterprise or through strategic licensing agreements and partnerships," said Antoine Yver, MD, MSc, Executive Vice President and Global Head, Oncology Research and Development, Daiichi Sankyo. "It's our obligation to bring innovative compounds to patients with cancer as quickly as possible, and we believe this agreement with an innovative U.S. partner will rapidly advance the development of this novel compound and potentially its availability to patients. Boston Pharmaceuticals has worked hard to develop a model that works for potential partners. We congratulate them on this success and look forward to continuing to explore similar collaborations in the future."

"The acquisition of DS-5010, now the fifth candidate in our pipeline, demonstrates our commitment to identifying and developing novel and differentiated therapeutic agents through strategic partnerships for the ultimate benefit of patients," said Robert Armstrong, PhD, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Boston Pharmaceuticals. "This agreement, with such an innovative partner as Daiichi Sankyo, marks a significant step in our plan to assemble a diverse portfolio of clinical candidates across a broad range of mechanisms and therapeutic targets."

About Daiichi Sankyo Cancer Enterprise
The vision of Daiichi Sankyo Cancer Enterprise is to leverage our world-class, innovative science and push beyond traditional thinking in order to create meaningful treatments for patients with cancer. We are dedicated to transforming science into value for patients, and this sense of obligation informs everything we do. Anchored by our Antibody Drug Conjugate (ADC) and Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) Franchises, our cancer pipeline includes more than 20 small molecules, monoclonal antibodies and ADCs stemming from our powerful research engines: our two laboratories for biologic/immuno-oncology and small molecules in Japan, and Plexxikon Inc., our small molecule structure-guided R&D center in Berkeley, CA. Compounds in development include: quizartinib, an oral FLT3 inhibitor, for newly-diagnosed and relapsed or refractory AML with FLT3-ITD mutations; DS-8201, an ADC for HER2-expressing breast and gastric cancer, and other HER2-expressing solid tumors; and pexidartinib, an oral CSF-1R inhibitor, for tenosynovial giant cell tumor (TGCT), which is also being explored in a range of solid tumors in combination with the anti-PD1 immunotherapy pembrolizumab. For more information, please visit: www.DSCancerEnterprise.com.

About Daiichi Sankyo
Daiichi Sankyo Group is dedicated to the creation and supply of innovative pharmaceutical products to address diversified, unmet medical needs of patients in both mature and emerging markets. With over 100 years of scientific expertise and a presence in more than 20 countries, Daiichi Sankyo and its 15,000 employees around the world draw upon a rich legacy of innovation and a robust pipeline of promising new medicines to help people. In addition to a strong portfolio of medicines for hypertension and thrombotic disorders, under the Group's 2025 Vision to become a "Global Pharma Innovator with Competitive Advantage in Oncology," Daiichi Sankyo research and development is primarily focused on bringing forth novel therapies in oncology, including immuno-oncology, with additional focus on new horizon areas, such as pain management, neurodegenerative diseases, heart and kidney diseases, and other rare diseases. For more information, please visit: www.daiichisankyo.com.  Daiichi Sankyo, Inc., headquartered in Basking Ridge, New Jersey, is a member of the Daiichi Sankyo Group. For more information on Daiichi Sankyo, Inc., please visit: www.dsi.com.

About Boston Pharmaceuticals
Boston Pharmaceuticals is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing differentiated therapeutics.  By leveraging a highly experienced clinical development team, Boston Pharmaceuticals is building a portfolio of high value clinical candidates addressing important unmet medical needs.  The company partners with innovative biotechnology companies, pharmaceutical companies and academic groups to acquire or in-license drug development candidates at late stages of pre-clinical development through early stages of clinical development. Following completion of human proof-of-concept trials, Boston Pharmaceuticals intends to partner successful development candidates to larger pharmaceutical or biotechnology companies for registration and commercialization, or alternatively build its own late stage portfolio, enabling the best molecules to reach patients while creating downstream value for the innovator and the company.  Boston Pharmaceuticals is funded by Gurnet Point Capital to build a portfolio of clinical candidates across multiple therapeutic areas. For more information, please visit www.bostonpharmaceuticals.com.

Contacts

Daiichi Sankyo, Inc.
Jennifer Brennan
[email protected]
+1 908 992 6631 (office)
+1 201 709 9309 (mobile)

Boston Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
MacDougall Biomedical Communications
Kari Watson or George MacDougall, 781-235-3060
[email protected]  

References:

1. Jhiang, M. The RET proto-oncogene in human cancers. Nature.2000;19:5590-5597.
2. Mologni, L. Development of RET kinase inhibitors for targeted cancer therapy. Curr Med Chem. 2011;18(2)162-75.
3. Kato, S. RET aberrations in diverse cancers: next-generation sequencing of 4871 patients. Clin Cancer Res. 2017;23(8) 1988-97.

SOURCE Daiichi Sankyo Company, Limited

Related Links

http://www.daiichisankyo.com