Midatech in-licenses Novartis' panobinostat in brain cancers

UK nanomedicine company Midatech Pharma (AIM: MTPH) has signed a global licensing agreement with Swiss pharma giant Novartis (NOVN: VX) on the development of the oncology compound, panobinostat.

The pan-HDAC inhibitor, which Novartis has won approval for as part of a combination regimen in multiple myeloma under the brand name Farydak, will be developed by Midatech for diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) as a continuation of its existing MTX110 program, a childhood brain cancer that is nearly always fatal, and potentially for glioblastoma.

In pre-clinical test models, panobinostat demonstrated very high potency against DIPG tumor cell lines. In one such study, it was the most effective of more than 80 anti-cancer agents tested.