APC Therapeutics granted Glenmark Pharmaceuticals an exclusive license to a small-molecule anticancer compound based on APC's antigen-presenting cell technology. Glenmark said the compound could potentially be used as either monotherapy or in combination with approved treatments. The firm will shoulder all clinical development responsibilities, along with regulatory and commercialization activities worldwide. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.

“Glenmark is an ideal partner to advance such an important scientific breakthrough treatment to patients with cancer,” commented Vinod Patel and Venkateshwar Reddy, cofounders of APC Therapeutics. “This partnership is strategically significant for APC Therapeutics as it validates and advances our commitment to bring the right immunotherapies to the right patient populations.” Dr. Reddy has joined Glenmark as vice president and global head of translation sciences.

The Boston, MA-based APC is a privately held biopharma company developing an immuno-oncology pipeline of small-molecule drugs with an antigen-presenting cell mechanism of action, for use in stratified patient populations.

Glenmark has operations in more than 50 countries, and develops and markets novel small-molecule and biologic drugs, generics, and active pharmaceutical ingredients.

Lead OX40 antagonist mAb candidate GBR 830 is currently under assessment in a Phase II proof-of-concept study in adults with atopic dermatitis. Glenmark says development of the drug for other potential indications is also ongoing. The firm’s HER2xCD3 bispecific antibody GBR 1302 is the first candidate developed using Glenmark's proprietary BEAT (bi-specific engagement by antibodies based on the T-cell receptor) platform. Following IND approval by FDA in January, GBR 1302 is being evaluated in a Phase I study in patients with previously treated HER2+ cancers.

Two additional bispecific antibodies based on the BEAT platform are in preclinical development. GBR 1342, which targets CD38 and CD3, is in development as a potential treatment for multiple myeloma. In May 2017, FDA granted IND approval for the start of a Phase I trial with GBR 1342 in previously treated multiple myeloma patients. GBR 1372, which targets EGFR and CD3, is in development initially against Erbitux (cetuximab)/Vectibix (panitumumab)-refractory colorectal cancer, and potentially for treating non-small cell lung cancer and head and neck cancers. A preclinical-stage OX40R agonist, GBR 8383, is in development as a potential treatment for multiple tumor types. 

 

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