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Print Edition StoriesThursday, March 19, 2009
Provenance license cancer drug from Merck unit
By Marc Songini
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Waltham-based biotech startup Provenance Biopharmaceuticals Corp. has licensed DI-Leu16-IL2, a new immunocytokine cancer treatment drug, from Merck Serono.
The company announced under the agreement it had worldwide rights to develop and sell DI-Leu16-IL2. Provenance will oversee the clinical development and commercialization of the drug. Under the DI-Leu16-IL2 license agreement’s terms, Provenance will pay an unspecified up front amount to Merck Serono. It will also pay out development and commercial milestones payments and royalties on sales.
The DI-Leu16-IL2 protein targets the B cell antigen, CD20, and is also one of a class of molecules developed using immunocytokine technology invented by Provenance’s own founder and CEO, Stephen Gillies. Gillies had previously licensed the molecule to Merck Serono, a division of Germany-based global pharmaceutical and chemical group Merck KGaA. Merck Serono handles new prescription pharmaceuticals for the group.
The DI-Leu16-IL2 protein is currently under testing in a clinical trial in patients with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma at the City of Hope National Medical Center in Duarte, Calif., stated Provenance.
Provenance is a clinical-stage biotech focusing on new treatments for cancer and other diseases. Its approach is to attack a disease at its source -- the recently identified cancer stem cell. The company relies on engineered antibody technologies that help the patient’s own immune system to recognize and fight disease. Company CEO Gillies is an expert on recombinant antibodies and immunotherapy and an inventor of core platform technologies, Provenance stated on its website.
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