Novacea signs accord with KuDOS

USA-based Novacea has licensed from the UK's KuDOS Pharmaceuticals theNorth American (USA, Canada and Mexico) rights for AQ4N, a potential treatment for a range of cancers.

Under the terms of the agreement, Novacea has an exclusive license in these territories to develop and commercialize AQ4N for all indications. In return, KuDOS will receive milestone payments and royalties based on product sales in the North American market; the UK firm will continue to develop the agent in Europe and other regions outside North America. No financial details of the deal were disclosed.

AQ4N is the first-in-class hypoxic cell-activated antitumor treatment, noted the companies. The agent is inactive when administered and is only converted to its cytotoxic form, AQ4, once it reaches hypoxic tumor cells; AQ4 is a topoisomerase II inhibitor and DNA intercalator.