Not even in preclinical ...
French pharma Pierre Fabre is offering up over $600 million in biobucks to work with Scorpion Therapeutics
“It's not easy to do a deal at all in this environment,” Scorpion CEO Axel Hoos, M.D., Ph.D., told Fierce Biotech. “Then get a tailored deal that serves so many purposes for us—it’s a good accomplishment.”
The Boston-based oncology biotech is set to make $65 million from an upfront payment and near-term milestones tied to the exclusive licensing agreement. The deal centers around its early-stage, next-gen mutant epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitors for patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
Under the terms of the agreement, Scorpion will lead clinical development of one of the assets, dubbed STX-721, while Pierre Fabre will guide clinical activities on the other, STX-241. Scorpion will keep commercialization rights for all product launches in the U.S., Canada and Japan, while Pierre Fabre will take on commercial activities in all other territories, with a focus on Europe and China. Both companies will share expenses for global development.
If all goes to plan, Scorpion will be in line for a further $553 million in potential milestone payments down the line as well as royalties.
“Based on their preclinical data, we've concluded that STX-721 and STX-241 may present best-in-class product profiles,” Francesco Hofmann, Ph.D., Pierre Fabre’s head of R&D for medical care, said in an April 4 release. “Further, this partnership will significantly expand our efforts in precision oncology, allowing us to better support the care and treatment of thousands of people globally.”
The two assets that the pharma is adding to its repertoire are products of Scorpion’s precision oncology drug-hunting platform, dubbed Precision Oncology 2.0. STX-721 is an orally delivered small molecule designed to target exon 20 insertion mutations in EGFR. Various EGFR mutations are known as common drivers of NSCLC. Currently in preclinical studies, Scorpion anticipates submitting an application to launch clinical trials for STX-721 to the FDA in the third quarter of the year, according to Hoos.
The other asset, STX-241, is an orally delivered central nervous system-penetrant small molecule created to target treatment-resistant NSCLC patients who also have exon 19 or 21 mutations. The biotech intends to submit a trial application to the FDA for the asset in the first half of next year.
The assets represent two-thirds of the pipeline Scorpion has unveiled over its three years, a rate of development that Hoos believes speaks to the quality of the molecules and platform. The 2.0 tech includes genomewide CRISPR screening with medicinal chemistry and data capabilities such as chemical proteomics and supercomputing. In other words, the platform combines several innovations to develop small molecules that are more selective, which improves treatment efficacy and reduces toxicity.