GlaxoSmithKline joins a Big Pharma immuno-oncology R&D alliance

Jim Allison, MD Anderson chair of Immunology and executive director of the immunotherapy platform

Drug research is a small world, where the main players often intersect repeatedly as they take on new roles at different institutions. And MD Anderson's new "moon shots" program on immuno-oncology is proving that maxim yet again as GlaxoSmithKline's immunotherapy team suits up for the last big slot in an ambitious alliance of industry giants aimed at discovering some new products in the red-hot cancer R&D field.

GlaxoSmithKline ($GSK) is taking a berth next to teams from AstraZeneca ($AZN), Pfizer ($PFE) and Johnson & Johnson ($J&J). And the pact brings together two of the key players in the development of Yervoy, the pioneering anti-CTLA-4 immune checkpoint inhibitor which helped trigger one of the most frenetic development races the industry has seen.

Axel Hoos, GSK's chief of immuno-oncology, was the medical lead for that sector at Bristol-Myers Squibb ($BMY), which developed Yervoy. And Jim Allison, who's in charge of the moon shot program at MD Anderson, did the original research that gave birth to the therapy at the University of California, Berkeley.

GSK chief of immuno-oncology Axel Hoos

It's no surprise that GSK's team will work in a collaboration that has attracted Pfizer, J&J and AstraZeneca's biologics arm MedImmune. They're all playing catch-up with the leaders in this race: Bristol-Myers Squibb, Merck ($MRK) and Roche ($RHHBY), which are working on the front-running PD-1 and PD-L1 programs in the clinic. The outsiders want to narrow the gap as quickly as possible. Of the four, AstraZeneca is occasionally mentioned as a contender, with an early-stage immunotherapy program with potential. Now they'll all be looking for second-wave programs that can be moved swiftly into clinical development efforts.

Their work will build "upon the early successes of immunotherapy by extending this approach to many types of cancer and exploring ways to improve treatment effectiveness," said Allison in a statement.

From the moment MD Anderson, one of the premier cancer treatment centers in the country, wooed Allison with a $40 million campaign to build this coalition, the principals wanted to limit the number of seats at the table. That proved a smart tactic, spurring some of the world's largest R&D operations to grab a chair while they were still available. MD Anderson says they'll also be working with start-up biotechs interested in developing their own immunotherapies.

But the star team is complete.

- here's the release