PIRAMED ANNOUNCE COLLABORATION WITH GENENTECH FOR THE DEVELOPMENT AND COMMERCIALISATION OF NEW ANTI-CANCER DRUGS LICENSED TO PIRAMED BY CANCER RESEARCH TECHNOLOGY, THE LUDWIG INSTITUTE OF CANCER RESEARCH AND THE INSTITUTE OF CANCER RESEARCH
London, UK, 30 November 2005 - PIramed today announced a major collaboration with Genentech to develop and commercialise a novel class of small molecule inhibitors. These drugs target the intracellular signal transduction molecule PI 3-kinase, which is involved in a broad range of cancers. PIramed will perform preclinical studies together with Genentech and Genentech will be solely responsible for clinical development and commercialisation of the drugs.
PIramed was established by Cancer Research Technology (CRT), the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) and the Ludwig Institute of Cancer Research (the Ludwig) to develop agents such as this new class of drugs. The agents originally arose through a multi-centred collaboration between CRT, Yamanouchi Pharmaceutical Company (now Astellas Pharma), Cancer Research UK-funded scientists at the London Research Institute and ICR and also scientists at the Ludwig. This deal secures resources for continued drug development of the PI 3-Kinase inhibitors and exemplifies the validity and strength of CRT’s commercialisation strategy.
Commenting on the collaboration Dr Michael Moore, Chief Executive Officer of PIramed, said: “We believe this alliance with Genentech is one of the largest preclinical collaborations ever signed by a UK biotechnology company...”.
To view the original PIramed press release on the PIramed website click here.
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