BioCentury
ARTICLE | Company News

InnoKeys, YM BioSciences deal

December 10, 2012 8:00 AM UTC

YM's CIMYM BioSciences Inc. subsidiary sold its assets related to nimotuzumab to InnoKeys for $2 million in cash. CIMYM is an 80/20 JV between YM and CIMAB S.A. (Havana, Cuba), from which YM had rights to nimotuzumab in North America, Europe, Japan, Korea, Australia and other countries. According to YM, CIMAB and InnoKeys formed a new JV, InnoMab Pte. Ltd., which now has ownership of the nimotuzumab assets. The product is a humanized IgG1 mAb against EGFR. YM declined to disclose details, while the other parties could not be reached.

Nimotuzumab is available in the U.S. on a compassionate use basis to treat pediatric glioma and has Orphan Drug designation in the U.S. and Europe to treat adult and pediatric glioma. Oncoscience AG (Wedel, Germany) has European rights to nimotuzumab from YM, while Daiichi Sankyo Co. Ltd. (Tokyo:4568; Osaka:4568, Tokyo, Japan) licensed rights in Japan, Kuhnil Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. (Seoul, South Korea) licensed rights in Korea, and PT Kalbe Farma Tbk. (Indonesia:KLBF, Bekasi, Indonesia) licensed rights in Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and South Africa. Biocon Biopharmaceuticals Ltd., a JV between Biocon Ltd. (NSE:BIOCON; BSE:BIOCON, Bangalore, India) and CIMAB, has Indian rights to the product. Laboratorios PiSA (Guadalajara, Mexico) markets nimotuzumab as Vecthix in Mexico to treat squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN) and pediatric and adult glioma. According to YM, sub-licensees are evaluating the product in Phase II and III development programs for a variety of cancers, including gastric, non-small cell lung, pancreatic, head and neck and cervical cancers. ...