Denovo Biopharma acquires Lilly's enzastaurin for development as a personalized medicine

Privately-held San Diego, USA-based biotech firm Denovo Biopharma has acquired enzastaurin, a late-stage oncology drug from pharma major Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY), gaining all rights to develop, manufacture and commercialize enzastaurin globally, including transfer of all intellectual property and other rights, data, and information. No financial terms were disclosed.

Lilly developed enzastaurin in a variety of indications, including in Phase II and Phase III clinical trials for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). In studies conducted by Lilly, enzastaurin achieved promising clinical results in the DLBCL induction setting in Phase II trials, but did not meet the primary endpoint in the DLBCL maintenance setting in the Phase III study. Lilly decided to drop development of the drug (The Pharma Letter May 10, 2013).

A meaningful subset of patients showed significantly improved progression-free survival and Denovo intends to conduct genetic analysis to identify biomarkers that are related to this outcome. By identifying genomic biomarkers that correlate with patients' responsiveness to treatment, Denovo plans to screen for appropriate patient subsets for enrollment in future clinical trials that the company plans to conduct.