Alkermes and Clovis Oncology Inc. have announced that the companies have entered into a research collaboration.
The collaboration will explore the potential anti-cancer effects of treatment combinations in preclinical models across multiple tumor types.
Results of this research may form the basis for potential future clinical studies of the novel combinations of ALKS 4230 with rucaparib and/or lucitanib.
“Our preclinical partnership with Clovis reflects our ongoing efforts to explore the numerous combination options afforded to ALKS 4230. The collaboration will allow us to examine combinations in two areas of keen interest, PARP and tyrosine kinase inhibition pathways,” said Mark Namchuk, Ph.D., Senior Vice President, Research, Pharmaceutical and Non-Clinical Development at Alkermes.
“Evidence of combined benefit of ALKS 4230 with rucaparib and/or lucitanib from these preclinical studies may provide a strong rationale to advance into clinical development,” Namchuk added.
Patrick J. Mahaffy, President and CEO of Clovis Oncology, said, “The unique profiles of rucaparib, lucitanib and ALKS 4230 may offer the potential for complementary therapies that could represent a meaningful opportunity for the development of new anti-cancer combination treatment options.”
“We are committed to exploring combinations such as these with Alkermes in order to bring improved therapeutic outcomes to patients with multiple tumor types,” Mahaffy said.
Under this collaboration agreement, Alkermes and Clovis will perform preclinical studies to examine the mechanism of action and efficacy of the combinations of ALKS 4230 with rucaparib and ALKS 4230 with lucitanib in multiple tumor models.
Under the terms of the agreement, the companies will share costs related to the preclinical studies, and each will contribute their respective compounds to the research collaboration.
Clovis Oncology is a biopharmaceutical company focused on acquiring, developing and commercializing innovative anti-cancer agents in the United States, Europe and additional international markets. Clovis Oncology targets development programs at specific subsets of cancer populations, and simultaneously develops, with partners, diagnostic tools intended to direct a compound in development to the population that is most likely to benefit from its use.
Clovis Oncology is headquartered in Boulder, Colorado.
Alkermes is a global biopharmaceutical company developing innovative medicines for the treatment of central nervous system diseases.
The company has a diversified commercial product portfolio and a substantial clinical pipeline of product candidates for chronic diseases that include schizophrenia, depression, addiction, multiple sclerosis and oncology.
Headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, Alkermes has an R&D center in Waltham, Massachusetts; a research and manufacturing facility in Athlone, Ireland; and a manufacturing facility here in Wilmington.
