Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) granted Chinese firm Simcere Pharmaceutical rights to develop and commercialize the preclinical-stage oncology compound BMS-817378 in its home country. While BMS retains rights to develop its small molecule MET/VEGFR-2 inhibitor in all other markets worldwide, the initial focus will be on the initiation of first-in-human studies in China. The two firms will work together to hammer out the development plan for BMS-817378, which will initially be conducted by Simcere.
The U.S. drugs giant claims that marrying the strengths of a Chinese pharmaceutical firm and global pharma company represents a completely new approach to the development of its early-stage pipeline.
“This approach allows the partnership to leverage our well-recognized clinical and regulatory capabilities and our access to the vast patient pool in China,” remarks Peng Wang, Ph.D., Simcare CEO. “