AstraZeneca has entered into an agreement with Japanese-based Daiichi Sankyo to develop and commercialize trastuzumab deruxtecan, a proprietary antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) and potential new targeted medicine for cancer treatment.
Trastuzumab deruxtecan is currently in development for the treatment of multiple HER2-expressing cancers, including breast and gastric cancer, and in patients with HER2-low expression.
A first regulatory submission is scheduled for the second half of 2019 for patients in the advanced or refractory breast cancer setting. Additional development for the treatment of breast, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), gastric and colorectal cancers is ongoing.
Under the terms of the agreement, AstraZeneca will pay Daiichi Sankyo an upfront payment of $1.35 billion, as well as contingent payments of up to $5.55 billion and $1.75 billion for sales-related milestones.
The companies will jointly develop and commercialize the treatment worldwide, except in Japan where Daiichi Sankyo will maintain exclusive rights. Daiichi Sankyo will be solely responsible for manufacturing and supply.
Read the press release.