AVEO Oncology (NASDAQ: AVEO) and Astellas Pharma Inc. (TSE: 4503) today
announced the companies will end their worldwide collaboration and
license agreement for the development and commercialization of
investigational agent tivozanib. Tivozanib is an investigational
tyrosine kinase inhibitor of all three vascular endothelial growth
factor (VEGF) receptors. Astellas has exercised its right to terminate
the agreement signed in 2011 for strategic reasons, based on the
clinical status of the three indications studied. Additionally, the
companies agreed to discontinue the ongoing Phase 2 BATON (Biomarker
Assessment of Tivozanib
in ONcology) study in patients with
colorectal cancer (CRC). The termination of the collaboration will be
effective August 11, 2014 at which time tivozanib rights will be
returned to AVEO. In accordance with the collaboration and license
agreement, committed development expenses will be shared equally.
“We would like to thank Astellas for its commitment to tivozanib and our
partnership over the past three years,” said Tuan Ha-Ngoc, President and
Chief Executive Officer of AVEO. “Given today’s announcements, we are
re-aligning our resources behind key development opportunities to bring
clinically meaningful treatments to patients and create shareholder
value. We look forward to outlining our corporate strategy when we
report our fourth quarter and full year 2013 results.”
“While our decision is based on strategic reasons, Astellas is proud of
our partnership and work with AVEO,” said Yoshihiko Hatanaka, President
and CEO of Astellas. “We remain committed to the field of Oncology to
help meet the unmet needs of cancer patients.”
About Astellas
Astellas Pharma Inc., located in Tokyo, Japan, is a pharmaceutical
company dedicated to improving the health of people around the world
through the provision of innovative and reliable pharmaceuticals.
Astellas has approximately 17,000 employees worldwide. The organization
is committed to becoming a global category leader in Urology, Immunology
(including Transplantation) and Infectious Diseases, Oncology,
Neuroscience and DM Complications and Kidney Diseases. For more
information on Astellas Pharma Inc., please visit the company website at www.astellas.com/en.
About AVEO
AVEO Oncology (NASDAQ: AVEO) is a cancer therapeutics company committed
to discovering and developing targeted therapies designed to provide
substantial impact in patients’ lives by addressing unmet medical needs.
AVEO’s proprietary Human Response PlatformTM provides the
company unique insights into cancer biology and is being leveraged in
the discovery and clinical development of its cancer therapeutics. For
more information, please visit the company’s website at www.aveooncology.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that involve
substantial risks and uncertainties. All statements, other than
statements of historical facts, contained in this press release are
forward-looking statements. The words “anticipate,” “believe,”
“estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “target,” “potential,”
“could,” “should,” “seek,” or the negative of these terms or other
similar expressions, are intended to identify forward-looking
statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these
identifying words. These forward-looking statements include, among
others, statements about AVEO’s plans to re-align its resources to bring
meaningful treatments to patients and to create shareholder value.
Actual results or events could differ materially from the plans,
intentions and expectations disclosed in the forward-looking statements
that AVEO makes due to a number of important factors, including risks
relating to: AVEO’s ability to execute on its business plan and re-align
its resources behind key development opportunities; AVEO’s ability to
successfully enroll and complete clinical trials and preclinical studies
of its product candidates; AVEO’s ability to demonstrate to the
satisfaction of the FDA, or equivalent foreign regulatory agencies, the
safety, efficacy and clinically meaningful benefit of its product
candidates; AVEO’s ability to achieve and maintain compliance with all
regulatory requirements applicable to its product candidates; AVEO’s
ability to obtain and maintain adequate protection for intellectual
property rights relating to its product candidates and technologies;
developments and expenses related to AVEO’s ongoing shareholder
litigation and SEC inquiry; AVEO’s ability to raise the substantial
additional funds required to achieve its goals; adverse general economic
and industry conditions; competitive factors; AVEO’s ability to maintain
its strategic partnerships and relationships; and those risks discussed
in the section titled “Risk Factors” included in AVEO’s most recent
Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and in its other filings with the SEC. The
forward-looking statements in this press release represent AVEO’s views
as of the date of this press release. AVEO anticipates that subsequent
events and developments will cause its views to change. However, while
AVEO may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point
in the future, it specifically disclaims any obligation to do so. You
should, therefore, not rely on these forward-looking statements as
representing AVEO’s views as of any date subsequent to the date of this
press release.
Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/multimedia/home/20140214005132/en/
Copyright Business Wire 2014