The Michigan University start-up has entered an agreement with Medivation.
OncoFusion Therapeutics, an oncology discovery and development company, has signed a licensing agreement with San Francisco-based Medivation. The two companies will work together to accelerate research and development exploring the role of BET bromodomain proteins in oncology.
As part of the deal, Medivation is to receive exclusive global rights to develop and commercialise the compounds. On the other hand, OncoFusion will receive undisclosed upfront payments as well as potential future milestone payments subject to reaching specific clinical and commercial milestone events.
Bromodomain proteins regulate genes and play a critical role in cancer and other diseases. Emerging research in the area of cancer biology suggests that targeting these proteins may reduce the growth of a number of tumor types.
OncoFusion was co-founded in 2012 by Michigan University professors Arul Chinnaiyan and Shaomeng Wang, based on their discoveries from the Michigan Center for Translational Pathology and the Centre for Discovery of New Medicines, respectively. Medivation was founded in 2004, and in 2012 received FDA approval for XTANDI, a drug treating late-stage metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, which the FDA study showed extends median survival to 18.4 months.
Ken Nisbet, associate vice president of the university’s tech transfer office, said: “We are gratified to see the remarkable progress of OncoFusion Therapeutics, as evidenced by this agreement with Medivation. We are naturally proud of our U-M researchers Arul Chinnaiyan and Shaomeng Wang, who both have impressive track records of research and entrepreneurial achievement.”
