Chiroscience and BMS in cancer deal
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Your support makes all the difference.Chiroscience yesterday teamed up with Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS), the US pharmaceuticals giant, to develop a potential new blockbuster treatment for cancer. It is the biggest deal the UK biotechnology group has ever made and its shares closed 4.5p higher at 266p.
The deal pits Chiroscience head-to-head with British Biotechnology which is currently testing marimastat, its own cancer remedy that could also revolutionise the treatment of the disease.
BMS is already the biggest supplier of cancer treatments in the world with annual sales of $1.8bn (pounds 1.1bn) in a market worth $7bn. Its biggest seller is Taxol, which acts to kill cancerous cells. Other treatments in the market use hormone therapy to eradicate such things as breast cancer.
But Chiroscience's new compound, like marimastat, would act to inhibit what are known as metalloproteinase, which have been linked with the spread of cancer around the body. Such drugs could be used to complement existing remedies or to stop infection after operations or a course of radiotherapy. It could eventually replace other remedies and the potential market for such drugs could be huge. Analysts estimate that if they proved successful, they could become $1bn sellers in a market that is growing all the time.
Dr Andy Richards, director of business development at Chiroscience, said yesterday: "This could add a whole new layer of treatment to the market. If it is successful there is no reason why it could not replace existing treatment. Then it could have sales of over $1bn."
BMS has acquired the worldwide rights for two of Chiroscience's leading anti-cancer compounds - known only as D2163 and D1927. In return analysts believe that the group is paying pounds 5m up front to Chiroscience. The UK group can also expect to receive up to pounds 50m if it makes it through clinical testing and BMS will put up the tens of millions of pounds it will take to get the drug through the development stages.
Chiroscience estimates that it could receive a royalty of more than 10 per cent if the drug goes on the market.
Chiroscience's new drugs could be available by 2002 if they get through clinical testing, but tests for marimastat are more advanced and the company will reveal important trial results next year. The two groups also face competition from other major pharmaceutical groups around the world who are investing huge sums to find a cure for cancer.
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