Oncodesign Has Entered into a Services Agreement with Eisai to Develop a New Personalized Medicine Program in Earlier Line Metastatic Breast Cancer Treatment

Regulatory News:

ONCODESIGN (Paris:ALONC) (FR0011766229 - ALONC), a biotechnology company serving the pharmaceutical industry in the discovery of new therapeutic molecules to fight cancer and other serious illnesses with no known effective treatment, announced today the signing of an agreement with Eisai Inc., a subsidiary of Eisai Co., Ltd. Oncodesign will conduct in vivo pharmacology studies and Eisai will provide gene expression profiling analysis using Oncodesign’s patient-derived xenograft models (PDX) to investigate the potential of Halaven® eribulin in earlier line treatment of metastatic breast cancer.

Eribulin (marketed by Eisai in Europe as Halaven) is indicated in Europe for the treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer who have progressed after at least one chemotherapeutic regimen for advanced disease. Prior therapy should have included an anthracycline and a taxane in either the adjuvant or metastatic setting unless patients were not suitable for these treatments.¹ Eribulin is the first in the halichondrin class of microtubule dynamics inhibitors with a novel mechanism of action developed by Eisai and approved in 55 countries to treat patients with metastatic breast cancer.

Biomarkers are designed to assist physicians in selecting effective therapies for their patients, based on the individual characteristics of each person. The use of clinically relevant breast PDX models generates results to quickly and accurately investigate potential predictive biomarkers and sensitive patient subgroups.

Oncodesign could receive revenues up to 1.25M Euros for their contribution towards the total eribulin biomarker development program, of which 0.9M Euros have already been received.

Philippe Genne, Chairman and CEO of Oncodesign, commented, "We are very excited to be partnering with a leading and innovative pharmaceutical company like Eisai. Preclinical research was recently conducted by Oncodesign in collaboration with Eisai using pharmaco-imaging to further investigate the mechanism of action for eribulin. The results of the upcoming PDX pharmacology studies and gene expression profiling could provide insights into patient responses to Eisai’s eribulin.”

About ONCODESIGN: www.oncodesign.com

Founded 19 years ago by Dr. Philippe Genne, the Company’s CEO and majority shareholder, ONCODESIGN is a biotechnology company that maximizes the pharmaceutical industry’s chances of success in discovering new therapeutic molecules to fight cancer and other serious illnesses with no known efficient treatment. Backed by unique experience acquired through more than 500 clients, including the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies, and relying on a comprehensive technological platform combining state-of-the-art medicinal chemistry, advanced animal modeling and medical imaging, ONCODESIGN is able to predict and identify for every molecule, very upstream, its therapeutic use and its potential to become an efficient drug. Applied to kinase inhibitors, molecules that represent a market estimated at over 40 billion dollars in 2016 and accounting for almost 25% of the pharmaceutical industry’s R&D investments, ONCODESIGN’s technology has already enabled the targeting of 7 promising molecules with substantial therapeutic potential, in oncology and elsewhere, and the signing of partnerships, potentially worth €350 million in upfront payments should predefined milestones be reached, with pharmaceutical groups Sanofi, Ipsen and UCB. Based in Dijon, France, in the heart of the town’s university and hospital hub, ONCODESIGN has 74 staff.

Footnote/Reference: 1. SPC Halaven (updated June2014). Available at: http://www.medicines.org.uk/emc/medicine/24382/SPC/Halaven+0.44+mg+ml+solution+for+injection
Accessed: August 2014