Irish biopharmaceutical company Carrick Therapeutics has licensed exclusive worldwide rights to develop and commercialise a new ovarian cancer drug.
The company, which focuses on the innovative research and development of transformative oncology medicines, said it had agreed to licence BTG945, a targeted therapy from the global specialist healthcare company BTG. It did not disclose financial terms.
The drug, which will now be known as CT900, combines targeting folate receptor a and inhibiting thymidylate synthase. It was discovered by The Institute of Cancer Research, London.
"The addition of CT900 to our pipeline further strengthens Carrick's multi-asset portfolio targeting critical pathways that drive aggressive and resistant cancers," said Elaine Sullivan, Chief Executive of Carrick Therapeutics. "Since our inception two years ago, Carrick has made excellent progress and is now developing two clinical assets and a pre-clinical pipeline that have the potential to meet significant unmet needs for patients."
Carrick is already beginning preparations for studies using CT900, and will undertake a clinical development programme in other cancers.
"The efficacy results that we have seen so far for CT900 are very promising. The beauty of this drug is that it is targeted to the tumour cells, meaning there are fewer side-effects and making it a very promising treatment for women with ovarian cancer," said Professor Paul Workman, chief executive of the Institute of Cancer Research, London.
“I am very excited that this drug is progressing to the next stage of clinical trials and believe it has the potential to be a highly effective treatment for women with ovarian cancer, even when their tumours have become resistant to existing drugs.”
Carrick also appointed Dr George Golumbeski as its chairman.
