NantPharma just teamed up with Amgen to build out a new Phase 2 small molecule drug that targets gastric and esophageal cancers. Financial terms were not disclosed.
The company is a subsidiary of billionaire physician-entrepreneur Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong’s umbrella company, NantWorks. This represents NantWorks’ second cancer drug partnership with Amgen – earlier this year, it partnered on monoclonal antibody ganitumab. The company also recently acquired Cynviloq in a $1.3 billion deal – a sort of next-gen abraxane that shows that Soon-Shiong is headed back to his roots.
Given the financing being funneled into the many subsidiaries of NantWorks – including $250 million that emerged just last week – it’s fair to assume this Amgen deal also commands large dollars.
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“This latest agreement extends that strategic relationship to drive precision cancer care with molecules targeting oncogenic drivers of the disease,” NantWorks said in a release.
The newest Amgen partnership involves developing AMG 337, a small molecule drug that’s highly selective for cancer cells that express with extremely high selectivity for cancer cells expressing cell surface enzyme c-Met.
“We believe our tumor molecular profiling capability is uniquely positioned to fulfill the promise of AMG 337 as a drug that targets c-Met and treats patients whose cancer expresses a responsive molecular profile,” Soon-Shiong said in a statement.
NantWorks focuses heavily on “omic” analysis, and the patients entering clinical trial for AMG 337 will receive extensive DNA, RNA and proteomic testing. This precision medicine approach is meant to maximize clinical outcome and minimize side effects, NantPharma said.
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[IMAGE: Courtesy of Reuters]
