Ascentage Pharma inks deal with AstraZeneca unit on Bcl-2 and BTK inhibitors

Chinese clinical-stage biotech Ascentage Pharma (HK: 6855) over the weekend announced a clinical collaboration with Acerta Pharma, the hematology R&D subsidiary of UK pharma major AstraZeneca (LSE: AZN), with the news leading to a 6.7% fall in its share price to HK$43.25 by close of trading today

Under the terms of the accord, Ascentage will sponsor a clinical trial to study the combination of Ascentage's APG-2575, a selective Bcl-2 inhibitor, and Acerta's Calquence (acalabrutinib), a Bruton's tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor, evaluating the efficacy and safety of this combination therapy in patients with relapsed/refractory (r/r) chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL)/small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL).

This global, multicenter, open-label Phase Ib/II dose-escalation and dose-expansion study is designed to evaluate the safety, tolerability, and anticancer activity of APG-2575 as a single agent or in combination with Calquence in patients with r/r CLL/SLL. The study has already initiated in the USA, where Calquence was first approved in October 2017, with the dosing of first patient, and planned to expand in Europe, and Australia.