Kinex and PharmaEssentia expand drug development partnership

Privately-held USA-based Kinex Pharmaceuticals and Taiwan’s PharmaEssentia say they have signed a new licensing agreement granting PharmaEssentia exclusive development and commercial rights to Oraxol (an oral form of paclitaxel) and Oratecan (an oral combination therapy of cytotoxic agents with HM30181A) in Taiwan and Singapore.

Kinex will receive an undisclosed upfront payment, milestones, and royalties. PharmaEssentia has also committed to conducting clinical studies in Taiwan to contribute to the global registration programs for Oraxol and Oratecan. The companies currently have a licensing agreement in place in certain Asian territories for the dermatology preparations of Kinex' dual Src/Pretubulin Inhibitor, KX01 (The Pharma Letter December 3, 2012).

Oraxol and Oratecan are two of many compounds that could be developed by Kinex and its partners through the Orascovery program. Orascovery is based on an important platform technology developed by Hanmi Pharmaceuticals using compound HM30181A, a potent and selective P-glycoprotein (PGP) pump inhibitor. Suppression of the PGP pump allows certain clinically important compounds (such as paclitaxel, irinotecan, and others), which would normally be effluxed back into the gastrointestinal tract and excreted, to enter the bloodstream and become bioavailable through oral administration.  Importantly, HM30181A is a very potent PGP inhibitor that is not systemically absorbed.