Teva, OncoGenex join forces to develop prostate cancer drug

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. ( TEVA) headquartered in Israel and OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: OGXI) announced on Dec 21 that they have entered a licensing agreement under which both companies will further develop and commercialize OGX-011, an anticancer drug that may be enlisted to treat advanced prostate cancer, lung cancer and breast cancer, and Teva will purchase shares in OncoGenex.

The experimental drug OGX-011 inhibits cancer treatment resistance and is expected to be used as adjunct therapy to enhance the effectiveness of chemotherapy and has already shown promising results when added to currently available chemotherapies in several tumor types including prostate cancer and lung cancer.

OGX-11 has completed Phase II clinical trials in prostate, lung and breast cancer. The drug has received FAST Track status from the FDA for the treatment of progressive metastatic prostate cancer in combination with docetaxel.  Metastatic cancer often leads to death and modern cancer treatment can’t help much.

An estimated 200,000 new cases of prostate cancer are diagnosed each year in the United States and the disease kills about 30,000 annually.  Breast cancer is diagnosed in more than 170,000 women each year in the US and the disease kills about 50,000 annually.  Lung cancer is another leading killer and the disease is often found in a late stage and its prognosis is poor.

Teva is the world's biggest provider of generic drugs, according to a press release.

By Jimmy Downs