On September 1, 2017 ONCURIOUS NV, a Belgium-based biotech company focusing on the development of innovative oncology treatments, reported that it has reached principle agreement with VIB to acquire exclusive licences to a portfolio of five unique next generation immuno-oncology assets, based on seminal work originating from the VIB-KULeuven labs of Massimiliano Mazzone and Gabriele Bergers, and from the VIB-VUB lab of Jo Van Ginderachter (Press release, Oncurious, SEP 1, 2017, View Source [SID1234520363]).
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Oncurious broadens its ongoing clinical development activities in orphan pediatric oncology indications with preclinical research and drug development programs, resulting in an exciting pipeline of next-generation immuno-oncology drugs targeting a broad spectrum of cancers.
VIB Discovery Sciences will take the lead in the pre-clinical development of these new projects. As part of this agreement, VIB will increase its stake in Oncurious, with ThromboGenics remaining the majority shareholder. VIB will also receive a royalty on future sales of any of these assets. ThromboGenics invests an additional €2.1 million in Oncurious.
Dr Johan Cardoen, Managing Director of VIB comments, "VIB has been developing a portfolio of next-generation immuno-oncology assets. As there are a lot of synergies within that portfolio, we also see the opportunity to develop all assets within one company. As a venture partner of Oncurious, we are looking forward to take the company to the next level."
Patrik De Haes, MD, Executive Chairman of ONCURIOUS NV comments, "This new collaboration with VIB and the resulting portfolio propels Oncurious into the very exciting area of immuno-oncology, with a focus on next generation therapies. We are very privileged to have the world-class VIB-team as our venture partner."
Oncurious is currently conducting a Phase I/IIa clinical trial for the evaluation of TB-403 in the treatment of medulloblastoma, in collaboration with BioInvent. TB-403 is a humanized monoclonal antibody against placental growth factor (PLGF). PLGF is expressed in several types of cancer, including medulloblastoma.