Bayer HealthCare and Amgen expand cancer research alliance

Bayer HealthCare and Amgen have announced plans to expand their collaborative research into new cancer therapies.

Under the terms of the revised agreement, the companies will be developing and commercialising a new bispecific T-cell engager (BiTE) antibody against an undisclosed target expressed in multiple tumours.

Bayer will work with Amgen Research in Munich during the first phase of research, after which it will assume full control over the development of the product candidate.

This comes in addition to the 2009 agreement formed between Bayer and Micromet – now an Amgen subsidiary – to develop the BiTE antibody targeting the prostate specific membrane antigen for the treatment of patients with prostate cancer.

Professor Dr Andreas Busch, head of global drug discovery and member of the executive committee of Bayer HealthCare, said: "Oncology is one of our core growth areas and biologics are a key focus of our strategy to develop novel treatments for patients suffering from cancer."

Earlier this month, the company announced the sale of its PET tracer assets to fellow healthcare company Piramal Imaging, a move that will allow Bayer HealthCare to focus its resources on other areas.