Mirati Therapeutics and MedImmune launch clinical trial collaboration

Share on facebook
Share on twitter
Share on linkedin
Share on email
Share on print

Mirati Therapeutics Inc. and MedImmune, the global biologics research and development arm of AstraZeneca, announced they have entered into an exclusive clinical trial collaboration.

The phase I/II study will evaluate the safety and efficacy of Mirati’s investigational spectrum-selective histone deacetylase inhibitor, mocetinostat, in combination with MedImmune’s investigational anti-PD-L1 immune checkpoint inhibitor, durvalumab (MEDI4736).

This novel combination will initially be evaluated in patients with non-small cell lung cancer with the potential to explore additional indications in the future.

Mocetinostat selectively inhibits class I HDAC enzymes, which has the potential to enhance the positive effect of checkpoint inhibitors, such as durvalumab, on tumor immunity, while durvalumab is designed to counter the tumor’s immune-evading tactics by blocking a signal that helps tumors avoid detection.

Under the terms of the agreement, Mirati will conduct and fund the initial phase I/II clinical trial, which is expected to start in 2016, and MedImmune will supply durvalumab for the trial.

In the event that the initial clinical trial demonstrates positive results, MedImmune will have an exclusive period of time in which to negotiate a commercial license for the combination in this indication.

YOU MAY BE INTERESTED IN

Thomas J. Lynch Jr. and Howard A. “Skip” Burris III lead two institutions that couldn’t be more different—an NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center on one side of the country and a for-profit research enterprise on the other—but they stay up at nights worrying about the same thing.
In back-to-back congressional hearings earlier this week, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said that the massive staff and budget cuts over which he has presided during his nearly four months on the job as well as even bigger cuts still looming on the horizon are a part of a single plan.
Natalie Phelps, a 43-year-old mother of two, has stage 4 colorectal cancer. She has become a central figure in the controversy over the dysfunction the Trump administration’s RIFs and budget cuts have brought to NIH. 

Never miss an issue!

Get alerts for our award-winning coverage in your inbox.

Login