Kyowa Hakko Kogyo agrees KW-2871 licence

Japanese pharmaceutical company Kyowa Hakko Kogyo (KHK) has completed a licensing deal for an antibody drug.

The Tokyo-based firm has finalised an agreement with US business Life Science Pharmaceuticals (LSP) concerning the development and marketing of its KW-2871 compound.

Under the terms of the contract, KHK will collaborate with LSP on improving the clinical efficacy of the product through combining it with a range of different anticancer agents following the previous performances of the compound in trials on skin cancer.

The Japanese firm stated: “KHK is committed to maximising the value of its in-house developed drug candidates through efficient and effective development activities including alliances.”

It also confirmed that researchers at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research (LICR) in New York will continue with their work on the compound in partnership with technicians from LSP.

KHK hopes that its alliances with LSP and LICR will reduce the time taken to develop the antibody further in order to enable its suitability for filing and an introduction on the global market.

The firm sells a wide range of products in the pharmaceutical industry but also manufactures a series of chemical materials and has a foodstuff division offering confectionary and baking ingredients.