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| GVK Biosciences will use its discovery platform to advance two targets put forth by Onconova Therapeutics.--Courtesy of GVK Biosciences |
Drugmaker Onconova Therapeutics has signed on with Indian CRO GVK Biosciences to co-develop cancer treatments, with Onconova supplying biomarkers and GVK handling candidate selection.
The deal is somewhat innovative: GVK's stake in the partnership will increase as the two progress, reaching a maximum 50-50 split if the pair meets certain funding and development milestones.
Onconova Director E. Premkumar Reddy, a molecular oncologist, will oversee the biology and biomarker aspects of the deal, and the company will put forth two discovery targets with early chemical equity, turning them over to GVK to use its discovery platform to advance them through lead optimization and IND candidate selection.
For Onconova, GVK's expertise in developing targeted treatments made it an ideal partner, and the outcome-based arrangement presents a novel R&D organization that can ensure maximum CRO buy-in, Reddy said in a statement.
"GVK has a world-class infrastructure and the scientific expertise to support the advancement of these two promising, early-stage programs," Reddy said. "We are delighted to start this novel relationship with GVK Bio in our search for efficacious targeted therapies for cancer."
The Newtown, PA-based Onconova has posted some success in targeted cancer therapies in the past, and it's currently in the midst of late-stage studies for rigosertib, an investigative multikinase inhibitor targeting mitotic and PI-3 kinase pathways.
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