April 20, 2024
Bio
Dong-A ST in-licenses oncolytic virus therapy from Takara Bio
[THE INVESTOR] Korean pharmaceutical company Dong-A ST said on Aug. 23 it has bought the license for an oncolytic virus therapy from a Japanese biotech firm Takara Bio to expand its anti-cancer drug pipeline.
The two companies signed an agreement on Aug. 22 that gives Dong-A ST exclusive rights to co-develop and commercialize the clinical stage drug candidate Canerpaturev, or C-REV, in Korea.
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Dong-A ST Chairman Um Dae-sik (right) and Takara Bio CEO Koichi Nakao |
The Korean firm will pay the Japanese partner up-front and milestone payments after successful completion of a project phase, and royalties on sales. Takara Bio will supply the finished product to Dong-A ST. According to Takara Bio, upfront and milestone payments will be up to around 300 million yen (US$2.70 million).
The partnership comes as oncolytic virus has emerged as a promising treatment approach that uses a virus to infect and destroy cancer cells.
“Global drug makers are paying high attention to oncolytic virus following several studies showing that the therapeutic agent induced high rate of durable responses and long-term remissions when combined with immune checkpoint inhibitors,” a company official said.
C-REV is an attenuated strain of the herpes simplex virus 1, which is known to cause cold sores around the mouth and face. The strain was naturally produced, not genetically manipulated, and exhibits anti-tumor activity when inserted into a cancerous region, offering a new treatment option with lower risk of side effects.
Currently, Takara Bio is developing C-REV to treat malignant melanoma and pancreatic cancer. The Kyoto-based biotech plans to submit an application to the Japanese health regulator for approval of the drug targeting melanoma by end-March 2019. Dong-A ST said it will also seek regulatory approval for the both indications here.
Takara Bio had entered into an exclusive licensing agreement for domestic co-development and exclusive sales of C-REV with Otsuka Pharmaceuticals in 2016.
By Park Han-na (hnpark@heraldcorp.com)
