On September 20, 2018 OncoMed Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: OMED), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing novel anti-cancer therapeutics, reported that Celgene has notified OncoMed that due to strategic product portfolio considerations Celgene has decided not to exercise its option to license OncoMed’s bispecific antibody navicixizumab (anti-DLL4/VEGF bispecific, OMP-305B83) (Press release, OncoMed, SEP 20, 2018, View Source [SID1234529495]). Celgene continues to retain its options to license OncoMed’s etigilimab (anti-TIGIT monoclonal antibody, OMP-313M32) and rosmantuzumab (anti-RSPO3, OMP-131R10) under the collaboration. OncoMed and Celgene are working to formalize the termination of the collaboration agreement with respect to navicixizumab, and OncoMed expects to retain worldwide rights to navicixizumab.
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"While we are disappointed in Celgene’s decision, we thank them for the productive interactions in evaluating navicixizumab, and we respect their decision given their pipeline prioritization and focus," said John Lewicki, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of OncoMed. "With the global development and commercialization of navicixizumab remaining under our control, we are evaluating potential opportunities for the program and will continue to assess the data as it evolves for navicixizumab in combination with paclitaxel in heavily pretreated platinum-resistant ovarian cancer patients."
OncoMed is currently conducting a Phase 1b clinical trial of navicixizumab in combination with paclitaxel in patients with platinum-resistant late-stage ovarian cancer. Interim Phase 1b data will be presented in a poster presentation on October 20, 2018 at the European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) (Free ESMO Whitepaper) meeting to be held in Munich.
About Navicixizumab
OncoMed’s anti-DLL4/VEGF bispecific antibody, navicixizumab, is designed to inhibit the function of both DLL4 and VEGF and thereby induce potent anti-tumor responses while mitigating certain angiogenic-related toxicities. Navicixizumab was developed utilizing OncoMed’s BiMAb bispecific platform technology, which enables the design of bispecific antibodies comparable to traditional monoclonal antibodies but possessing dual target-binding specificity. In preclinical studies, navicixizumab demonstrated robust in vivo anti-tumor efficacy across a range of solid tumor xenografts, including colon, ovarian, lung and pancreatic cancers, among others. Further, in preclinical studies dual inhibition of DLL4 and VEGF appeared to exhibit synergistic anti-tumor activity at doses where blockade of either target alone elicited sub-optimal activity.