OncoGenex Recoups Custirsen Rights from Teva

Washington state oncology drug developer OncoGenex is taking back rights to the experimental cancer therapy custirsen, ending a five-year collaboration with Israeli manufacturer Teva Pharmaceuticals.

Under the deal, OncoGenex will use a $27 million termination payment from Teva to continue clinical testing of the compound for indications such as prostate cancer and non-small cell lung cancer, with results expected in early 2015 and 2016. OncoGenex also will take over all commercial and regulatory activities, including manufacturing, said the company, which expects the initial part of the deal to be finalized this month.

Teva had paid roughly $430 million to OncoGenex for rights to the drug under the 2009 agreement. OncoGenex President and CEO Scott Cormack attributes its termination to Teva’s waning oncology focus.

Custirsen works by blocking production of a protein called clusterin, which is overexpressed in prostate, lung, bladder and breast cancers and often leads to faster disease progression and higher levels of treatment resistance.

The drug, however, has shown unequal effectiveness across multiple cancers. In April, OncoGenex said the drug extended overall survival by only 1.2 months when compared with docetaxel and prednisone as a first-line therapy for men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. — Lena Freund