Nimotuzumab milestone for YM Bio

Canada's YM BioSciences, an oncology company that identifies, develops and commercializes differentiated products for patients worldwide, says that its majority-owned subsidiary CIMYM BioSciences has received a milestone payment from licensee Innogene Kalbiotech in recognition of the recent marketing approval of nimotuzumab in the Philippines and Indonesia. IGK is the biotechnology subsidiary of PT Kalbe Farma Tbk of Jakarta, Indonesia, one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the region with more than 8,100 employees and annual revenues exceeding $300.0 million.

"With the addition of the Philippines and Indonesia, nimotuzumab has now received marketing approval in 12 countries. Demand for novel medicines is growing rapidly in the emerging markets of the world and nimotuzumab is well positioned to become a key cancer therapeutic in these territories due to its unique safety profile compared with the other EGFR-targeting drugs," said David Allan, chief executive of YM BioSciences. "Highlighting this competitive advantage, reports have increased in frequency describing toxicities associated with the combination of the other EGFR drugs and radiation. In addition to Grade III/IV rash, Grade IV radiation dermatitis, another serious and debilitating toxicity, has recently been reported affecting approximately 28% of patients treated with a currently marketed EGFR-targeting antibody together with radiation while absent in patients treated with radiation alone," he added.

In none of the clinical trials of nimotuzumab to date, to YM's knowledge, have any of the patients developed Grade III/IV acneiform rash, also a severe and dose-limiting side-effect observed in all of the other antibodies and with small molecules targeting the EGF tyrosine kinase signaling pathway, the firm says.