Date: 2014-04-22
Type of information: Collaboration agreement
Compound: Checkpoint Kinase 1 (Chk1) programme
Company: Sentinel Oncology (UK) Oncothyreon (USA - WA)
Therapeutic area: Cancer - Oncology
Type agreement: collaboration development
Action mechanism:
Disease:
Details: * On April 22, 2014, Sentinel Oncology, a UK-based small molecule drug discovery company, has announced it has signed a collaboration agreement with Oncothyreon for development of Sentinel’s Checkpoint Kinase 1 (Chk1) programme. Sentinel has developed a series of potent, selective, orally active Chk1 kinase inhibitors as chemo- and radio-sensitizers.The Chk1 protein performs a crucial role in the way that cancer cells respond to DNA damage and although Chk1 is active in all cells, over 50% of tumour cells have partially disrupted DNA repair mechanisms and are therefore much more reliant on Chk1. Consequently, inhibition of Chk1 has been shown to selectively sensitise tumour cells to DNA damaging agents, enabling effective lower doses of chemo- and radiotherapy, and reduction in associated side-effects.
Financial terms: Under the terms of the agreement Oncothyreon will fund additional drug discovery research at Sentinel directed at the Chk1 target, and will have an exclusive license for the development and commercialisation of any resulting compounds. Sentinel is eligible to receive pre-clinical, clinical and commercial milestone payments of up to $174M and a royalty on net sales, if any.
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