Jazz Pharmaceuticals licences KRAS blocker from Redx Pharma

Under the term of the agreement, Redx Pharma plc (Alderley Park, UK) is to receive US$10m upfront and up to US$870m in milestone payments. Redx is also eligible for tiered, mid-single digit percentage royalties based on any future net sales. As part of a separate collaboration agreement, signed in parallel, Dublin-headquartered Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc will pay Redx to perform research and preclinical development activities with the goal of completing IND-enabling studies for both KRAS profiles.

Jazz and Redx Pharma will collaborate to advance candidates through IND-enabling studies; Jazz Pharma will be responsible for all clinical development, regulatory, manufacturing and commercialisation activities.

„Redx has discovered a number of preclinical KRAS candidates and we plan to leverage our collective oncology development expertise to identify and advance the most promising molecules toward the clinic,” said Robert Iannone, M.D., M.S.C.E., executive vice president, global head of research and development of Jazz Pharmaceuticals. „This transaction further expands our early-stage oncology pipeline, and we are excited to explore novel approaches to improving treatment options for cancer patients.“

Rat sarcoma virus (RAS) is the most frequently mutated oncogene across different cancer types, with KRAS mutations accounting for approximately 85% of these mutated oncogenes. Therefore, KRAS inhibitors targeting multiple commonly occurring mutations may offer a treatment option for large segments of colorectal, pancreatic and lung cancer patients who currently have limited treatment
options. Developing orally bioavailable agents that generate optimised target coverage is a key opportunity for the next wave of KRAS-targeting agents that act beyond the G12C mutation.