Daiichi Sankyo Company, Limited and Boston Pharmaceuticals, Inc. have entered into a worldwide licencing agreement for Daiichi Sankyo’s novel RET inhibitor, DS-5010. The DS-5010 is a highly selective and potent RET (ret proto-oncogene) kinase inhibitor in late preclinical development. RET rearrangements and activating mutations are associated with several types of cancer, including non-small cell lung cancer, colorectal cancer and thyroid cancer.

Under the terms of the agreement, Daiichi Sankyo grants Boston Pharmaceuticals worldwide rights for the research, development, manufacturing and commercialisation of DS-5010. Daiichi Sankyo will collaborate with Boston Pharmaceuticals to complete preclinical studies to support an Investigational New Drug Application to regulatory authorities and initiation of the clinical programme, after which Boston Pharmaceuticals will be responsible for all activities related to DS-5010. Daiichi Sankyo will receive an upfront payment and is eligible for clinical, regulatory and sales milestone payments, as well as royalties on net sales worldwide. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

"We continue to actively prioritise and manage our growing oncology portfolio to ensure that promising compounds are supported with appropriate resources, either within Daiichi Sankyo Cancer Enterprise or through strategic licensing agreements and partnerships," said Antoine Yver, executive vice president and global head, oncology research and development, Daiichi Sankyo. "It’s our obligation to bring innovative compounds to patients with cancer as quickly as possible, and we believe this agreement with an innovative US partner will rapidly advance the development of this novel compound and potentially its availability to patients. Boston Pharmaceuticals has worked hard to develop a model that works for potential partners. We congratulate them on this success and look forward to continuing to explore similar collaborations in the future."

"The acquisition of DS-5010, now the fifth candidate in our pipeline, demonstrates our commitment to identifying and developing novel and differentiated therapeutic agents through strategic partnerships for the ultimate benefit of patients," said Robert Armstrong, CEO and co-founder of Boston Pharmaceuticals. "This agreement, with such an innovative partner as Daiichi Sankyo, marks a significant step in our plan to assemble a diverse portfolio of clinical candidates across a broad range of mechanisms and therapeutic targets."