Sierra Oncology acquires AstraZeneca myelofibrosis drug

6 August 2021

US biopharma Sierra Oncology (Nasdaq: SRRA) has acquired an exclusive global license from AstraZeneca (LSE: AZN) for AZD5153, a potent and selective BRD4 BET inhibitor with a new bivalent binding mode.

Sierra plans to start a Phase II study examining AZD5153 in combination with momelotinib - a JAK inhibitor cast off by Gilead Sciences (Nasdaq: GILD) in 2018 - in myelofibrosis patients in the first half of 2022.

"The combination of JAK inhibition and BET inhibition has been identified as a promising emergent approach"Stephen Dilly, president and chief executive at Sierra, said: “This global in-licensing deal is of two-fold importance to Sierra’s long-term strategy. First, it brings another novel compound into the Sierra development pipeline, expanding our opportunity to deliver transformative therapies for patients with rare cancers.

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