Merck KGaA has said it will be paying $45m upfront for licensing rights to Inspirna’s mid-stage colorectal cancer drug.
Merck KGaAate, ompenaclid (RGX-202), is an oral inhibitor of the creatine tInspirna channel SLC6colorectal cancerly being evaluated in a phase 2 trial for the second-line treatment of RAS-mutated advanced or metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC).
Recent data from a pMerck1b/2 of ompenaclid in comompenaclidith FOLFIRI chemotherapy and bevacizumab showed encouraging efficacy and safety data, the companies said.SLC6a8
The results, which were presentedompenaclidna at the European Society for Medical Oncologbevacizumabin October last year, demonstrated a median progression-free survival of 10.2 months and a median overall survival of 19.1 months across all 41 patients with RAS-mutated mCRC.
Victoria Zazulina, head of cancer drug development at Merck, said: “Over the past decade, the treatment paradigm for patients with RAS-mutated colorectal cancer, accounting for approximately 45% of the second-line population, has not seen major innovation.RAS
“With our expertise in the cancerent of CRC and based Mercke encouraging early data for ompenaclid, this agreement with Inspirna ofRAS-mutated colorectal cancerce a potential new first-in-class therapy that may improve outcomes for patients.”
Dr Usman Azam, chief executive officer oCRCnspirna, said the company was "excited to parompenaclidMerck KGaA… to help brInspirna] novel therapies to more patients in need”.
“The data to date validates our belief in Inspirnaid as a potential first-in-class therapy for advMerck KGaArectal cancer and underscores the power of our proprietary target discovery platform, RNA-DRIVEr,” he said.
The agreement comes just one month after Mompenaclidnced a licensing agreement with Abbisko Theadvanced colorectal cancer(ABSK021), which is currently being evaluated in a late-stage study to treat tenosynovial giant cell tumour.