Curis and Bioniche each get $8 million milestones in respective deals with Debiopharm and Endo

Massachusetts, USA-based drug developer Curis is set to receive an $8 million payment from Switzerland's Debiopharm SA after the latter gained French regulatory approval to begin human studies on a potential cancer treatment.

Debiopharm has received approval from France's Agence Francaise de Securite Sanitaire des Produits de Sante (AFSSAPS) of a Clinical Trial Application (CTA) for small-molecule heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) inhibitor Debio 0932, formerly called CUDC-305. Under the terms of Curis' and Debiopharm's August 2009 license agreement, Curis will receive an $8 million milestone payment from Debiopharm for the achievement of this objective.

'We believe that Debio 0932 may have broad potential in a number of cancer indications based on its multiple mechanisms of action and client proteins, and its remarkable pharmacological properties, and we are pleased that the second compound generated from Curis' proprietary targeted cancer platform has advanced into the clinic,' said Dan Passeri, Curis' president and chief executive.

Debiopharm plans to open a Phase I clinical trial evaluating the safety of Debio 0932 during the first quarter of 2010. The study will be an open-label, multicenter dose escalation trial evaluating the safety and maximum tolerated dose of multiple doses of the drug in patients suffering from advanced solid tumors or lymphoma.