Vertex has earned a $10 million milestone payment from Merck & Co. as a result of this step forward in the drug’s development. The companies entered a global collaboration to develop and commercialize VX-680, aimed at targeting Aurora kinase, in 2004.
The initiation of phase II development for VX-680 is based on the enrollment of patients with advanced colorectal cancer in a phase II extension of a previous phase I clinical study. In addition, Merck expects to initiate a phase II clinical study for VX-680 in patients with advanced lung cancer this year.
“VX-680’s advancement to phase II clinical development underscores the rapid progress that we and Merck have made to characterize the activity of this novel, potential cancer treatment,” said Dr Joshua Boger, chairman, president and CEO of Vertex.
As enzymes specific for and essential to cell growth and division, Aurora kinases hold the potential to be important control points for slowing the growth and spread of tumors. They are known to be over-expressed in many tumor types, including colon cancer, breast cancer, ovarian cancer and other cancers as well as in lymphoma and leukemias.