GlaxoSmithKline and the international Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research (LICR) announce they have entered into an agreement whereby GSK has licensed a substantial portfolio of tumour-specific antigens from LICR. The financial details of the agreement are confidential.
The licensing agreement follows a long-standing collaboration between both parties on GSK's investigational MAGE-A3 Antigen Specific Cancer Immunotherapeutic (ASCI) in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC). This novel cancer immunotherapy ("therapeutic vaccination") is based on MAGE-A3, a tumour-specific antigen previously in-licensed by GSK from LICR.
Tumour-specific antigens are proteins expressed only by tumour cells. Once administered in combination with a specifically designed GSK proprietary adjuvant system, they are expected to trigger a specific immune response to eliminate tumour cells.
Under the terms of the agreement, GSK has licensed from LICR a significant number of cancer antigens expressed in large variety of cancers amongst which NSCLC, melanoma, breast cancer, head and neck cancer, bladder cancer and liver cancer.
Promising interim results from a proof-of-concept phase II clinical trial of GSK's MAGE-A3 Antigen Specific Cancer Immunotherapeutic (ASCI) in patients with Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) were presented at the 2006 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
These first data from GSK's ASCI support further research in the use of these novel compounds as potential new treatment option for cancer. By licensing more antigens from LICR, GSK will be able to expand its work in other tumour types.
"The signing of this agreement signals a new milestone in the relationship between LICR and GSK," said Jonathan C.A. Skipper, PhD, Executive Director for Intellectual Property and Licensing at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research. "We have enjoyed a productive and successful collaboration between our respective scientific teams for some years and we look forward to our continued preclinical and clinical collaborations. However, it is with great confidence that LICR hands the baton for the clinical development of our best tumour-specific antigens to GSK."
"We are very pleased to announce this agreement with the LICR the very same day the promising data from GSK's MAGE-A3 ASCI were presented", said Jean Stéphenne, President of GSK Biologicals. "With the licensing of this impressive portfolio of cancer antigens, we endorse our collaboration with the Ludwig Institute and reaffirm our commitment to using our experience in immunology to develop innovative immunotherapies against a wide variety of oncology conditions."
MAGE-A3 ASCI is an investigational drug and it is not approved for use in any indication in any country at this time.
The Institute formed the Cancer Vaccine Collaborative (CVC) with the Cancer Research Institute in New York to conduct early-phase clinical trials characterizing the immune response to several ASCIs in melanoma and lung, prostate, bladder and ovarian cancers. Preclinical and clinical analyses of most of the cancer-specific antigens licensed by GSK have been conducted at over a dozen global CVC sites.
GSK's Antigen Specific Cancer Immunotherapeutics (ASCIs) represent a class of novel compounds that are based on tumour antigens presented to the patient's immune system as recombinant proteins in combination with a GSK proprietary adjuvant system. ASCIs are meant to trigger a specific immune response against tumour cells expressing these proteins, rallying antibodies and T-cells to recognize and attack the cancer cells in a highly specific manner and eventually eliminate them.
This approach primarily aims at reducing the risk of tumour recurrence following surgery. It could also be used to impact tumour growth in early metastatic setting.
The highly targeted mode of action of GSK ASCIs against specific cancer antigens expressed by tumour cells may avoid harming the normal tissue. In addition, it may allow selection of patients eligible for the treatment depending on the expression of the tumour antigens. This may help oncologists to select patient populations most likely to respond to the treatment.
The Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research (LICR) is the largest international academic institute dedicated to understanding and controlling cancer. Headquarters in New-York with one Centre for Clinical Sciences and nine Branches in seven countries, the scientific network that is LICR quite literally spans the globe. LICR has developed an impressive portfolio of reagents, knowledge, expertise, and intellectual property, and has also assembled the personnel, facilities, and practices necessary to patent, clinically evaluate, license, and thus translate, the most promising aspects of its own laboratory research into cancer therapies.