S*Bio, Tragara forge $112M development pact

Singapore's S*BIO has inked a $112.5 million development deal for a multi-kinase inhibitor program. In S*BIO's second collaboration announced this month, San Diego-based Tragara Pharmaceuticals has agreed to pay an unspecified upfront fee plus development and sales milestones. And S*BIO will earn research fees for some preclinical work on SB1317.

Tragara plans to explore the inhibitor's effectiveness against hematologic malignancies as well as the therapeutic potential of the compound's activity in solid tumors. Tragara's lead program, Capoxigem (apricoxib, TG01), is currently in Phase II clinical development in lung, breast and pancreatic cancers and has completed a Phase II study in inflammation/pain.

"We are pleased to work with Tragara in rapidly advancing SB1317 through IND enabling studies to the clinic. We chose Tragara as a partner due to a combination of their experience, exciting clinical development plans and commitment to speed. Together we will determine the full breadth of the compound's competitive advantages in a series of preclinical profiling studies prior to Tragara advancing this product through parallel tracks of clinical development," said Dr. Jan-Anders Karlsson, CEO of S*BIO.

- check out the S*Bio release