This week's life sciences industry news includes items on a $6 million grant landed by Fox Chase Cancer Center to support its cancer prevention and interception efforts, the latest on Children's Hospital of Philadelphia's next research building, a potential billion-dollar licensing deal, and more.
Here's the roundup:
Fox Chase Cancer Center
The Philadelphia hospital and research institution was awarded a five-year, $6 million grant from the National Cancer Institute to develop a new cancer prevention-interception targeted agent discovery program called CAP-IT.
Margie Clapper, co-leader of Fox Chase's cancer prevention and control research program, led the grant application and will serve as program director.
Clapper said Fox Chase and Weill Cornell Medicine in New York were selected as the founding members for the new NCI initiative.
"My lab is dedicated to developing new therapies for the prevention of cancer and has been for 30 years," she said. "CAP-IT provides an opportunity for other scientists across Fox Chase to contribute to this mission in a meaningful way."
The CAP-IT Center will be comprised of several research laboratories and shared resources within Fox Chase. Its goal is to coordinate the development of molecularly targeted therapies for precision cancer prevention and early interception in populations at high risk for cancer. Prevention aims to stop cancer before it begins. Early interception refers to disrupting the development of cancer in its earliest stages.
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
The West Philadelphia pediatric medical center said it has entered into a deal to have Gilbane Building Co., Pride Enterprises, and McKissack & McKissack provide construction management services for its planned Schuylkill Avenue Research Building.
CHOP's plan is to have researchers from different disciplines collaborate at the site and "make discoveries that will define the next century of pediatric health care."
Donald E. Moore, CHOP's vice president of real estate, facilities and operations, called the tri-venture with Gilbane/Pride/McKissack on this project a "shining example of CHOP’s commitment to work with diverse suppliers, as we strive not only to expand our research capabilities but also to promote economic inclusion."
The 14-story, 350,000-square-foot building is going up next to CHOP's Roberts Center for Pediatric Research. The overall layout, created by Cannon Design, will feature a variety of outdoor spaces for both employees of the building and the surrounding community. The research building will enable more foot traffic in the area through park-like spaces and offer new retail space, with the potential for a cafe with an entrance near the South Street Bridge.
A groundbreaking ceremony for the Schuylkill Avenue Research Building took place last week. The grand opening is scheduled for 2025.
Jazz Pharmaceuticals
The Dublin-based pharmaceutical company, which has a large presence in Philadelphia, has entered into an exclusive licensing agreement with Zymeworks for zanidatamab, an experimental treatment for biliary tract cancers and gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma, a rare type of cancer of the esophagus.
Under the agreement, Jazz will acquire the development and commercialization rights to zanidatamab across all indications in the United States, Europe, Japan and all other territories except for those Asia/Pacific territories previously licensed by Zymeworks.
The deal calls for Jazz (NASDAQ: JAZZ) to make a $50 million upfront payment to Vancouver-based Zymeworks, which could receive a second payment of $325 million, tied to results from ongoing clinical trials, and additional payouts for regulatory and commercial milestones for a potential total of up to $1.76 billion, plus royalties on net sales.
The transaction is expected to close before the end of this year.
"This agreement reflects Jazz's strategic focus on opportunities where we can not only apply advanced technologies to address critical unmet patient needs, but where we can also leverage Jazz's existing integrated capabilities and global infrastructure to commercialize [potential new products] efficiently," said Dr. Rob Iannone, executive vice president and global head of research and development at Jazz.
Quick Hits
The Center for Breakthrough Medicines, a King of Prussia-based contract development and manufacturing organization, launched its Analytical Accelerator for AAV (adeno-associated virus) Testing platform. The analytical accelerator was designed to help gene therapy developers meet the "quality domains" of identity, safety, purity, potency, and stability required by the Food and Drug Administration and global regulatory authorities. … Lannett Co. (NYSE: LCI), a Trevose-based generic pharmaceutical company, sold a group of previously discontinued abbreviated new drug applications for about $3 million to an unnamed privately held pharmaceutical company. The two companies also entered into a separate agreement under which the unnamed company will purchase and distribute, under a private label, other unspecified Lannett-owned generic drug products. Lannett also received approval this week from the FDA to manufacture its topical anesthetic product Numbrino at its plant in Seymour, Indiana. The product was previously manufactured at the company's plant in Carmel, New York, which it sold last year. … Langhorne-based Nexgel (NASDAQ: NXGL) said this week it has developed a proprietary hydrogel eye patch to treat amblyopia, also called lazy eye, a type of poor vision that typically occurs in one eye but can occur in both eyes. The patch is expected be available for ophthalmologists and optometrists to offer to patients in the first half of 2023. The global amblyopia treatment market is expected to reach more than $6 billion by 2027.
