Eisai and Halozyme to research new breast cancer treatment approach

Eisai is partnering with Halozyme to assess the benefits of a new combination therapy for advanced breast cancer.

The clinical collaboration agreement will evaluate Eisai's anticancer agent Halaven in combination with Halozyme's investigational new drug PEGPH20 in first line HER2-negative advanced breast cancer.

Under the terms of the deal, the companies will jointly conduct and share the costs of a phase Ib/II clinical study seeking to determine whether a combination of these two agents can improve the overall response rate in advanced breast cancer patients with high levels of hyaluronan.

In hyaluronan-rich triple-negative breast preclinical animal models, the addition of PEGPH20 to Halaven was associated with significantly higher tumour growth inhibition, including tumour regression, when compared to Halaven alone.

Dr RuiRong Yuan, vice-president and chief medical officer for Eisai Global Oncology, said: "This is a very important collaboration, one that speaks to our continued commitment to address the unmet medical needs of patients with advanced breast cancer."

The firm filed for regulatory approval of Halaven as a treatment for soft tissue sarcoma in Europe, the US and Japan last month.