The drug maker will work with Moderna Therapeutics to discover, co-develop and co-commercialise messenger RNA (mRNA) therapeutic candidates for the treatment of a range of cancers.
The partnership builds on an existing agreement between the companies to develop mRNA Therapeutics treatments for cardiovascular, metabolic and renal diseases, as well as selected targets in oncology.
Under the new deal, the companies will work together on two specific immuno-oncology programs, depending on pre-clinical data, including pharmacology in tumour models.
Moderna will lead preclinical development, while AstraZeneca will be responsible for clinical development.
The companies will co-commercialize any resulting products in the US under a 50:50 profit sharing arrangement, while AstraZeneca will lead ex-US commercialization efforts, with Moderna receiving tiered royalties.
Under the other deal, AstraZeneca and Incyte will test a combination of their products as a second-line treatment for lung cancer.
Incyte will carry out a phase I/II study of a treatment regimen that combines its experimental INCB39110 Janus-associated kinase (JAK) 1 inhibitor with AstraZeneca’s Tagrisso lung cancer drug
The combination will be evaluated for patients with epidermal growth factor receptor mutation-positive non-small cell lung cancer, who received a first generation EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor treatment and developed the T790M resistance mutation. .
The agreement builds on an existing cancer therapy collaboration between the two companies formed in May 2014.
Image: AstraZeneca will collaborate with Moderna Therapeutics and Incyte for the development of new cancer treatments. Photo: courtesy of AstraZeneca.