PHILADELPHIA, NEW YORK, and LONDON, June 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- GlaxoSmithKline and the international Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research (LICR) today announce they have entered into an agreement whereby GSK has licensed a substantial portfolio of tumor-specific antigens from LICR. The financial details of the agreement are confidential.
The licensing agreement follows a long-standing collaboration between both parties on GSK's investigational MAGE-A3 Antigen Specific Cancer Immunotherapeutic (ASCI) in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC). This novel cancer immunotherapy ("therapeutic vaccination") is based on MAGE-A3, a tumor- specific antigen previously in-licensed by GSK from LICR.
Tumor-specific antigens are proteins expressed only by tumor cells. Once administered in combination with a specifically designed GSK proprietary adjuvant system, they are expected to trigger a specific immune response to eliminate tumor cells.
Under the terms of the agreement, GSK has licensed from LICR a significant number of cancer antigens expressed in a large variety of cancers, including NSCLC, melanoma, breast cancer, head and neck cancer, bladder cancer and liver cancer.
Promising interim results from a proof-of-concept phase II clinical trial of GSK's MAGE-A3 Antigen Specific Cancer Immunotherapeutic (ASCI) in patients with Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) were presented today at the 2006 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
These first data from GSK's ASCI support further research in the use of these novel compounds as potential new treatment options for cancer. By licensing more antigens from LICR, GSK will be able to expand its work in other tumor types.
"The signing of this agreement signals a new milestone in the relationship between LICR and GSK," said Jonathan C.A. Skipper, PhD, Executive Director for Intellectual Property and Licensing at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research. "We have enjoyed a productive and successful collaboration between our respective scientific teams for some years and we look forward to our continued preclinical and clinical collaborations. However, it is with great confidence that LICR hands the baton for the clinical development of our best tumor-specific antigens to GSK."
"We are very pleased to announce this agreement with the LICR the very same day the promising data from GSK's MAGE-A3 ASCI were presented," said Jean Stephenne, President of GSK Biologicals. "With the licensing of this impressive portfolio of cancer antigens, we endorse our collaboration with the Ludwig Institute and reaffirm our commitment to using our experience in immunology to develop innovative immunotherapies against a wide variety of oncology conditions."
MAGE-A3 ASCI is an investigational drug and it is not approved for use in any indication in any country at this time.
About LICR tumor-specific antigen portfolio
The Institute formed the Cancer Vaccine Collaborative (CVC) with the Cancer Research Institute in New York to conduct early-phase clinical trials characterizing the immune response to several ASCIs in melanoma and lung, prostate, bladder and ovarian cancers. Preclinical and clinical analyses of most of the cancer-specific antigens licensed by GSK have been conducted at over a dozen global CVC sites.
About GSK ASCIs
GSK's Antigen Specific Cancer Immunotherapeutics (ASCIs) represent a class of novel compounds that are based on tumor antigens presented to the patient's immune system as recombinant proteins in combination with a GSK proprietary adjuvant system. ASCIs are meant to trigger a specific immune response against tumor cells expressing these proteins, rallying antibodies and T-cells to recognize and attack the cancer cells in a highly specific manner and eventually eliminate them.
This approach primarily aims at reducing the risk of tumor recurrence following surgery. It could also be used to impact tumor growth in early metastatic setting.
The highly targeted mode of action of GSK ASCIs against specific cancer antigens expressed by tumor cells may avoid harming the normal tissue. In addition, it may allow selection of patients eligible for the treatment depending on the expression of the tumor antigens. This may help oncologists to select patient populations most likely to respond to the treatment.
About the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research
The Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research (LICR) is the largest international academic institute dedicated to understanding and controlling cancer. Headquartered in New York with one Centre for Clinical Sciences and nine Branches in seven countries, the scientific network that is LICR quite literally spans the globe. LICR has developed an impressive portfolio of reagents, knowledge, expertise, and intellectual property, and has also assembled the personnel, facilities, and practices necessary to patent, clinically evaluate, license, and thus translate, the most promising aspects of its own laboratory research into cancer therapies.
About GlaxoSmithKline and GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals
GSK Biologicals (GSK Bio), one of the world's leading vaccine manufacturers, is headquartered in Rixensart, Belgium, where the majority of GlaxoSmithKline's activities in the field of vaccine research, development and production are conducted. GSK Bio employs more than 1,500 scientists, who are devoted to discovering new vaccines and developing more cost-effective and convenient combination products to prevent infections that cause serious medical problems worldwide. GSK Bio is also developing innovative immunotherapy compounds to treat cancer patients.
In 2005, GSK Bio distributed more than 1.2 billion doses of vaccines to 165 countries in both the developed and the developing world, an average of more than 3 million doses per day.
GlaxoSmithKline -- one of the world's leading research-based pharmaceutical and healthcare companies -- is committed to improving the quality of human life by enabling people to do more, feel better and live longer.
For company information please visit http://www.gsk.com/.
Notes to editors
The first antigen to be identified on a human tumor was characterized on a melanoma cell line, thus named Melanoma AntiGEn-1 (MAGE-1, subsequently renamed MAGE-A1). MAGE-A1 was the first identified member of a series of related MAGE-A genes representing a family of 12 closely related genes. MAGE- A3 is part of the MAGE-1 family.
GSK cautionary statement regarding forward-looking statements
Under the safe harbor provisions of the US Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, the company cautions investors that any forward-looking statements or projections made by the company, including those made in this Announcement, are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. Factors that may affect the Group's operations are described under 'Risk Factors' in the Operating and Financial Review and Prospects in the company's Annual Report on Form 20-F for 2005.
