In September 2004 the companies entered into a collaboration to discover and develop small molecule cancer therapeutics targeting kinases, a family of cell signaling enzymes that play a major role in the progression of cancer. The milestone payment was triggered by identifying compounds with specific predetermined preclinical characteristics.
“We are pleased by the continued progress being made by our teams and the joint research committee in the advancement of kinase inhibitors toward the clinic,” said Daniel Swisher, Sunesis’ CEO. “This program is proceeding on course and we anticipate selecting the first safety assessment candidates from this collaboration next year.”