On September 25, 2014 Pharmacyclics and Servier reported that they have mutually and amicably ended their collaboration pertaining to the ex-U.S. development of Pharmacyclics’ pan-HDAC inhibitor compounds involving abexinostat, thereby returning global development and commercialization rights to Pharmacyclics (Filing 8-K , Pharmacyclics, SEP 30, 2014, View Source [SID:1234500799]).

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"We thank Servier for their contribution in forwarding abexinostat to its current stage of development, which includes having filed the patent applications that could extend patent protection to 2034," said Bob Duggan, Chairman & CEO, Pharmacyclics. "Now that we have full ownership of the abexinostat asset, we will enter a period of further evaluation to determine its usefulness in oncology."

"We were pleased to work alongside with Pharmacyclics to explore abexinostat in several cancers, which is in line with the strong existing commitment of our Company to the field of oncology," said Pascal Touchon, Vice President, Servier Business Development and Scientific Cooperation.

A provisional patent application for abexinostat tosylate was filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in 2013 and, if issued, would extend patent protection until 2034. Pharmacyclics will evaluate the full opportunity that the compound may afford, and plans to provide an update on this program in mid 2015.