AstraZeneca licenses Merck Sharp and Dohme cancer drug

AstraZeneca has announced details of a worldwide licensing agreement for a new cancer therapy from Merck Sharp and Dohme.

The oral small molecule inhibitor of WEE1 kinase is called MK-1775 and is currently being evaluated in phase IIa studies in combination with standard of care therapies for the treatment of patients with certain types of ovarian cancer.

It functions by causing tumour cells to divide without undergoing the normal DNA repair processes, ultimately leading to cell death, with preclinical evidence suggesting that this can be an effective treatment approach.

AstraZeneca will be responsible for all future clinical development, manufacturing and marketing of the compound, with Merck Sharp and Dohme to receive an upfront fee, plus future milestone-based payments and royalties.

Susan Galbraith, head of AstraZeneca's oncology innovative medicines unit, said: "The compound has demonstrated encouraging clinical efficacy data and we intend to study it in a range of cancer types where there is a high unmet medical need."

Earlier this month, the company commenced a phase III clinical trial programme for olaparib, a promising new therapy for BRCA-mutated ovarian cancer.