Glenmark, APC Therapeutics ink licensing pact for cancer drug

New Delhi: Domestic pharma major Glenmark Pharmaceuticals has entered into a licensing agreement with Boston-based APC Therapeutics Inc for development of a potential cancer treatment drug.

Under the terms of the agreement, Glenmark will license the product from APC Therapeutics and manage all clinical development, including regulatory filings and commercialisation worldwide, the company said in a statement on Tuesday.

APC Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company which is focused on building a portfolio of immuno-oncology (IO) therapies, will receive development milestones and sales royalty payments, it added.

The oncology compound based on Antigen Presenting Cell (APC) biology has the potential to be used as a monotherapy or in combination with approved therapies to address unmet needs in cancer treatment, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals said.

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals President and Chief Scientific Officer Kurt Stoeckli said: "This asset adds to our robust biologics pipeline of targeted IO therapies."

The mechanism of action of APC biology is very intriguing and has the potential to be transformative in cancer treatment by triggering powerful immunologic responses to tumours that may lead to deeper and more durable responses to treatment, he added.

APC Therapeutics co-founders Vinod Patel and Venkateshwar Reddy said Glenmark is the ideal partner to advance such an important scientific breakthrough treatment to patients with cancer.

The partnership is strategically significant for APC Therapeutics as it validates and advances its commitment to bring the right immunotherapies to the right patient populations, they added.

Citing IMH Health data, Glenmark said the global oncology market is growing exponentially and projected to exceed USD 150 billion by 2020.