Piramed's cancer drug starts clinical testing

Piramed, a privately-owned UK biotechnology firm, says that the lead candidate under its collaboration with Genentech has entered clinical development in both the USA and UK, triggering an undisclosed milestone payment from the US biotechnology major.

The agent, GDC-0941, was discovered by Piramed and has since been the subject of preclinical evaluation at both companies under an agreement signed in November 2005. GDC-0941 represents a new class of cancer drug targeting PI 3-kinase, a key intracellular enzyme involved in a broad range of cancers. The compound has demonstrated highly-significant anticancer efficacy in preclinical disease models, not only as a single agent but also in combination with certain approved and experimental therapies.