Conforma plans to market Sumitomo’s amrubicin in North America and Europe, with phase II trials scheduled for early 2006.
Amrubicin was developed as a treatment for lung cancer, which is thought to be the primary cause of cancer deaths worldwide.
The drug is currently approved and marketed in Japan for small-cell and non-small-cell lung cancer. According to the terms of the new agreement however, Sumitomo is now preparing to manufacture the product for worldwide distribution.
“Preclinical and clinical data suggest that amrubicin is not only more active than traditional anthracyclines but also appears to be free of the cumulative cardiotoxicity which has limited the utility of this class of drugs,” commented Robert De Jager, chief medical officer of Conforma. “Sumitomo has seen strong results in Japan that warrant clinical exploration in the US and Europe.
Conforma plans to investigate amrubicin initially in small-cell lung cancer in the US and Europe, and then expand to additional oncology indications.