Partner Article

Astrazeneca enter cancer drug agreement with BIND Therapeutics

Cheshire-based pharmaceutical giant Astrazeneca has announced a $200m partnership with BIND Therapeutics which will see the two companies work together on a nanomedicine for cancer.

The firms plan to commercialise and develop the drug, Accurin™, which is a targeted and programmable cancer medicine, and launch it using BIND’s Medicinal Nanoengineering platform.

Astrazeneca recently announced plans to exit it’s North West base at Alderley Park where it has been based for 40 years, in favour of the Cambridge area, where BIND Therapeutics is located.

The two businesses decided to enter into an agreement after new information emerged around nanomedicines, like Accurin™, which suggests the drugs gather in diseased tissues to give a higher concentration at tumour sites and lower concentration in non-affected areas.

Astrazeneca will have exclusive development and commercialization rights after they collaborate with BIND on research to enable the new drug, whilst BIND will lead on manufacturing during the development stages.

BIND’s president and Chief Executive Scott Minick, commented: “We are excited to grow this collaboration with AstraZeneca, a leading global biopharmaceutical company committed to developing innovative medicines for patients.

“One year ago, BIND started several feasibility projects with major pharmaceutical companies. Our collaboration with AstraZeneca is the first one completed and had very successful results. Due to the advanced nature of this programme, we now plan to move an Accurin with optimised therapeutic properties quickly into product development.”

Susan Galbraith, head of AstraZeneca’s Oncology Innovative Medicines Unit, added: “AstraZeneca believes that targeted therapies which specifically address the underlying mechanisms of disease are the future of personalised cancer treatment.

“Our oncology teams are actively exploring a range of platforms to deliver targeted therapies, with a strategic focus on unlocking the significant potential of nanoparticles in cancer treatment. We view BIND’s targeted nanomedicines as a leading technology in this field.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Miranda Dobson .