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news.Ariad Pharmaceuticals has granted a license to CellNexus for its Argent cell-signaling regulation technology in an effort to develop and commercialize new cancer therapies.
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Ariad said the technology had already helped to facilitate the discovery of new product concepts, targets and tools.
Ariad will have an equity stake in CellNexus and will receive additional payments based on certain development, regulatory and commercial milestones. Products in the partnership will use Ariad’s small-molecule dimerizer drug, AP1903, which already has successfully completed a phase I clinical trial.
The initial CellNexus product candidate is a cell therapy to prevent and treat anemia in cancer patients, while eliminating stimulation of tumor growth and angiogenesis by erythropoietin.
In clinical findings erythropoietin – a growth factor – may exert unanticipated negative effects in cancer patients. This highlights the potential need for new cancer therapies that do not rely on administration of recombinant forms of erythropoietin to treat anemia.
“This partnership, along with the program we announced last year with Bellicum Pharmaceuticals, was established to create further value for Ariad based on our Argent technology without the need to invest in the development costs associated with these exciting efforts,” said Harvey Berger, chairman and CEO of Ariad.