Eisai and Anaeropharma enter option accord for anticancer agent and drug delivery system

Japanese drug major Eisai (TYO: 4523) and Shinshu University venture company Anaeropharma Science last week concluded an option agreement for APS001, a novel anticancer agent currently under development at Anaeropharma that utilizes characteristic features of Bifidobacterium longum, as well as an accord on the discovery of novel anticancer agents that utilize Bifidobacterium as a drug delivery system.

The two contracts cover the development of drugs that utilize obligate anaerobes and non-pathogenic bacteria, traits which are characteristic of Bifidobacterium, a human intestinal tract bacterium. Financial terms of the deals were not disclosed.

Under the terms of the first deal, Eisai acquires the right of first review regarding the results of the Phase I clinical trials for APS001, which are scheduled to be conducted in the USA by Anaeropharma, and the right of first refusal on the licensing of the compound under development. Eisai will compensate Anaeropharma these two priority rights.