Merck KGaA has said it will be paying $45m upfront for licensing rights to Inspirna’s mid-stage colorectal cancer drug.
The candidate, ompenaclid (RGX-202), is an oral inhibitor of the creatine transport channel SLC6A8 and is currently being evaluated in a phase 2 trial for the second-line treatment of RAS-mutated advanced or metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC).
The agreement gives Merck an exclusive licence to ompenaclid outside of the US, with an option to co-develop and co-promote the drug in the US, as well as global co-development and co-commercialisation rights for follow-on SLC6a8 candidates.
Recent data from a phase 1b/2 of ompenaclid in combination with FOLFIRI chemotherapy and bevacizumab showed encouraging efficacy and safety data, the companies said.
The results, which were presented by Inspirna at the European Society for Medical Oncology Congress in October last year, demonstrated a median progression-free survival of 10.2 months and a median overall survival of 19.1 months across all 41 patients with RAS-mutated mCRC.
Victoria Zazulina, head of cancer drug development at Merck, said: “Over the past decade, the treatment paradigm for patients with RAS-mutated colorectal cancer, accounting for approximately 45% of the second-line population, has not seen major innovation.
“With our expertise in the treatment of CRC and based on the encouraging early data for ompenaclid, this agreement with Inspirna offers the opportunity to advance a potential new first-in-class therapy that may improve outcomes for patients.”
Dr Usman Azam, chief executive officer of Inspirna, said the company was “excited to partner with Merck KGaA… to help bring [its] novel therapies to more patients in need”.
“The data to date validates our belief in ompenaclid as a potential first-in-class therapy for advanced colorectal cancer and underscores the power of our proprietary target discovery platform, RNA-DRIVEr,” he said.
The agreement comes just one month after Merck announced a licensing agreement with Abbisko Therapeutics for pimicotinib (ABSK021), which is currently being evaluated in a late-stage study to treat tenosynovial giant cell tumour.
The company also announced two new drug discovery collaborations with BenevolentAI and Exscientia in September last year to harness artificial intelligence-driven design and discovery capabilities to accelerate drug discovery.