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Block and load
September 2013
EDIT CONNECT
SHARING OPTIONS:
LONDON—WNT ligands are key regulators of cell reproduction,
development and survival, mediating a range of functions such as regeneration
and injury
repair in adult tissues in a process that involves regulating a
number of biochemical signaling pathways. Now, Cancer Research Technology
(CRT), the commercial arm of Cancer Research UK, along with the Institute of
Cancer Research (ICR) in London and Merck Serono, a division of Darmstadt,
Germany-based Merck KGaA, have signed a licensing deal to discover and develop
anticancer drugs that block the WNT signaling pathway.
The groups are all very familiar with each other
already, as
this licensing deal actually extends a previous alliance to discover and
develop anticancer drugs that block the WNT signaling pathway.
This new deal
also grants Merck Serono the rights to develop molecules discovered through the
recently completed four-year research collaboration
between Merck Serono, CRT,
ICR and Cardiff University.
As part of the new work, ICR, CRT and Merck Serono are
beginning a two-year collaboration to progress
the existing compounds toward
candidates for clinical trials and design further molecules to target the WNT
signaling pathway. They will also
collaborate to discover biomarkers for target
inhibition and patient selection. Merck Serono will have rights to the
intellectual property from this
two-year project just as they now have IP
rights for the previous four years' work.
"Originally, we had set up a three-year collaboration with
Merck Serono and they extended that by a year, and at the end they decided to
exercise
their license option," Dr. Phil L'Huillier, CRT's director of business
development, tells DDNews. "But on top
of that, they decided to
keep working with us and ICR. It's been a very
effective collaboration, and a very effective team. It's also been a very
stable team, and there are
complementary skill sets that just made it too
valuable not to continue working together. I think what stands out in our work
is well and how quickly
this collaboration has moved and the recognition that
sticking together is the quickest path toward success."
The new drug discovery work will be carried out by
scientists at ICR in London and at Merck Serono's headquarters in Darmstadt
with some
financial support from Cancer Research UK.
Merck Serono will pay an upfront license fee to CRT and
make
further payments to CRT upon reaching development milestones. Merck Serono will
also pay royalties from potential future drugs. CRT will share
revenue with ICR
and Cardiff University.
The WNT pathway derives its name from the Drosophila
(fruit-fly) "Wingless" gene and the mouse "INT-1"
gene. Faults in the WNT pathway can leave it permanently switched on, and this
is linked to the
development of colorectal, breast and other cancers, note CRT,
ICR and Merck Serono, as well as an aberrantly activated WNT pathway possibly
playing a
role in establishing and maintaining cancer stem cells within tumors.
"Signaling through the WNT
pathway is critical to
uncontrolled cell proliferation in a number of tumor types, particularly
colorectal cancer. In some cases the WNT pathway is
permanently switched on by
mutations in components of this signaling cascade, leading to uncontrolled
growth," noted Prof. Julian Blagg, the project
's lead scientist at ICR, in the
news release about the new licensing deal and collaboration. "In a fast-moving
and successful collaboration, we have
discovered small-molecule modulators of
cancer cell signaling and we are excited by the opportunity to further progress
this work in collaboration with
Merck Serono. The announcement today helps to
bring us a step closer to new treatments for cancer patients."
L'Huillier notes that while the work between the
organizations will no doubt involve outside parties, such as contract
research
organizations and others that can help move the work along, there are no plans
to involve any other partners in the collaboration deal.
Details of the work to come are still being mapped out, so
L'Huillier couldn't comment on the specific next steps in the process.
"In the end, though, we are just very pleased to see a very
early-stage collaboration extend out and to
see the fruits of that taken on by
our commercial partner," L'Huillier says. "From our perspective, that is very
rewarding and a strong validation
of the quality of our work together." Code: E091318 Back |
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