On January 27, 2016 Trillium Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:TRIL; TSX: TR) a clinical immuno-oncology company developing innovative therapies for the treatment of cancer, reported that it has acquired all of the outstanding shares of Fluorinov Pharma Inc., a privately-held oncology company (Press release, Trillium Therapeutics, JAN 27, 2016, View Source [SID:1234508877]). Fluorinov has developed a proprietary medicinal chemistry platform using unique fluorine chemistry, which permits the creation of new chemical entities from validated drugs and drug candidates with improved pharmacological properties, potentially leading to increased safety and efficacy.

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"The acquisition of Fluorinov is transformative and adds several new dimensions to Trillium, including a risk-reduced internal drug discovery engine, a series of established preclinical oncology programs, and new business development and collaboration opportunities," commented Dr. Niclas Stiernholm, Trillium’s Chief Executive Officer. "The future of cancer treatment is most likely going to be dominated by combination therapies, and we believe that this will often involve combining large and small molecules. This is why we chose to acquire our own small molecule platform that can provide us with a great variety of drug candidates. Having capabilities in both large and small molecule drug development provides us with more flexibility, and makes us better prepared for the future."

Fluorinov’s most advanced preclinical oncology programs include potent, orally-available, bromodomain and proteasome inhibitors, as well as epidermal growth factor receptor antagonists with increased uptake in the brain, all of which have been differentiated from competitors and have potential for best-in-class status. In addition, a number of compounds directed at undisclosed immuno-oncology targets are currently in the discovery phase. With this acquisition Trillium is well positioned to internally investigate a variety of combination therapies with targeted oral small molecule drugs and large molecule immunotherapies.

"There’s no question that Trillium’s highest priority is to execute on our clinical CD47 program. However, acquiring a discovery engine with a demonstrated ability to generate high quality preclinical development candidates will significantly enhance our oncology pipeline," commented Trillium’s Chief Scientific Officer, Dr. Bob Uger. "Our current plan is to advance one, or possibly two, of Fluorinov’s existing preclinical programs through the IND-enabling phase using our internal development group, while at the same time focusing our new chemistry group on several of the existing immuno-oncology discovery programs. Importantly, this strategy does not engage or dilute the efforts of our CD47- focused clinical team, does not dramatically impact our burn rate and future financing plans, and may provide opportunities for future partnerships and collaborations."

Under the terms of the agreements, Trillium has agreed to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Fluorinov for an upfront payment of C$10 million in cash (~US$7 million), plus up to C$35 million (~US$25 million) of additional future payments that are contingent on Trillium achieving certain clinical and regulatory milestones with an existing Fluorinov compound. Trillium will also have an obligation to make low to mid single digit royalty payments on future sales of such compounds. The upfront payment will be subject to adjustment based on the net working capital of Fluorinov and other adjustments at the time of closing. At Trillium’s discretion, up to 50% of the future contingent payments can be satisfied through the issuance of common shares of Trillium ("Common Shares"), provided that the aggregate number of Common Shares issuable under such payments will not exceed 1,558,447 common shares (or 19.99% of the current outstanding Common Shares) unless shareholder approval has first been obtained. In addition, any such future share issuance remains subject to final approval from Trillium’s board of directors and receipt of any requisite approvals under the applicable rules of the Toronto Stock Exchange ("TSX") and the NASDAQ Stock Market ("NASDAQ").

"While we have had several third party proposals for individual Fluorinov programs in the past, the choice to merge with Trillium and join their leadership team was an easy one. The recent success with their lead program targeting CD47, and their emerging reputation as Canada’s leading immuno-oncology company made this a perfect fit for Fluorinov," added Dr. Malik Slassi, Fluorinov’s founder, President and Chief Executive Officer. "I look forward to combining our proprietary chemistry expertise with Trillium’s well-established biology and immunology capabilities under one roof."

On January 27, 2016 Cancer Research Technology (CRT) – the development and commercialisation arm of Cancer Research UK reported they have entered into a license agreement with MSD, known as Merck in the US and Canada, to develop inhibitors of protein arginine methyltransferase 5 (PRMT5) (Press release, Cancer Research UK, JAN 27, 2016, View Source [SID:1234508876]). These promising new drugs, which potentially have clinical applications in both cancer and non-cancer blood disorders, have been developed by the Australian Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) for Cancer Therapeutics (CTx) (link is external) with support from the Wellcome Trust (link is external) and CRT.​

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"The deal provides potentially significant financial returns, which CRT will invest into life-saving cancer research, and most importantly will hopefully bring promising new drugs to cancer patients as well as those suffering from blood disorders where there are no effective treatment options available." – Dr Phil L’Huillier, Cancer Research Technology
CRT has licensed rights to MSD on behalf of CTx – a Melbourne based CRC focused on the discovery and development of novel therapies for cancer. The programme is the result of initial research by Professor Stephen Jane at Monash University and collaboration between the CTx academic partners.

CRT has licensed rights to MSD on behalf of CTx – a Melbourne based CRC focused on the discovery and development of novel therapies for cancer. The programme is the result of initial research by Professor Stephen Jane at Monash University and collaboration between the CTx academic partners.

The PRMT5 protein is involved in many cellular processes including the epigenetic control of genes such as p53 – a gene that protects the cell against cancer-causing mutations and is faulty in nine out of ten cancers. High levels of PRMT5 protein are found in mantle cell lymphoma (MCL), chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL), melanoma, lung and breast cancers and are linked to poor survival.

In addition to applications for cancer, PRMT5 inhibitors switch on important genes in the development of blood, which could provide disease-modifying treatment options for patients with blood disorders like sickle cell disease and beta thalassemia.

Dr Ian Street, CTx chief scientific officer, said: "We are delighted to be working with CRT and MSD to progress the PRMT5 programme to the clinic. This is why CTx was established, to leverage cutting edge research developed by Australian scientists and ensure that this knowledge is translated for the benefit of patients."

Under the terms of the license, MSD will be responsible for research and development, including clinical development, and for worldwide commercialisation of products. As part of the research and development activities, MSD has entered into a research collaboration with CTx focusing on blood disorders, which MSD will fund.

CRT will receive an upfront payment of US$15 million (around £10.5 million) and is eligible to receive potential payments of up to US$0.5 billion (around £0.35 billion) for achievement of development, regulatory and commercialisation milestones. In addition, the agreement provides for royalties on sales. All payments will be shared between CRT, CTx and the Wellcome Trust with the majority being returned to CTx and its Australian research partners.

Dr Phil L’Huillier, Cancer Research Technology’s director of business development, said: "We’re delighted to have brought together the multiple parties involved in the discovery and optimisation of this multi-purpose target and to have established this major license agreement. The deal provides potentially significant financial returns, which CRT will invest into life-saving cancer research, and most importantly will hopefully bring promising new drugs to cancer patients as well as those suffering from blood disorders where there are no effective treatment options available."

Dr Warwick Tong, CTx chief executive, said: "This is a great result for Australian science and the CRC Programme as a whole and further demonstrates what can be achieved when science and commercialisation capabilities unite."

Dr Richard Seabrook, head of business development at the Wellcome Trust, said: "We’re excited to see that the support from our Seeding Drug Discovery Award is playing a key role in moving the project forward. We hope that in time the collaboration will lead to the development of effective new treatments for haemoglobin disorders such as sickle cell and beta thalassemia, both of which are associated with significant illness and early mortality."

On January 27, 2016 Incyte Corporation (Nasdaq: INCY) reported that the Phase 2 sub-study of ruxolitinib or placebo in combination with regorafenib in patients with relapsed or refractory metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC) and high C-reactive protein (CRP) will be stopped early (Press release, Incyte, JAN 27, 2016, View Source [SID:1234508874]). The decision to stop the sub-study was made after a planned interim analysis of the high CRP subgroup demonstrated that ruxolitinib plus regorafenib did not show a sufficient level of efficacy to warrant continuation.

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"We are disappointed at the outcome from this interim analysis and deeply grateful for the support and commitment of the patients participating in the study, their families, and the study investigators," said Steven Stein, M.D., Chief Medical Officer of Incyte.

About the Study
This Phase 2 randomized, double-blind study (INCB 18424-267) of patients with relapsed or refractory metastatic CRC included an open-label, safety run-in, to confirm the safety of the ruxolitinib plus regorafenib combination in subjects with relapsed or refractory metastatic CRC as well as a randomized phase of the study. The randomized phase of the study included 2 sub-studies targeting separate populations of patients with CRC based on levels of systemic inflammation, as measured by the modified Glasgow Prognostic Score (sub-study 1 CRP >10 mg/L and sub-study 2 CRP ≤ 10 mg/L). Patients in each sub-study were randomized 1:1 to receive ruxolitinib plus regorafenib or regorafenib plus placebo.

About Ruxolitinib (Jakafi)
Ruxolitinib (Jakafi) is a first-in-class JAK1/JAK2 inhibitor approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for treatment of people with polycythemia vera (PV) who have had an inadequate response to or are intolerant of hydroxyurea. Jakafi is also indicated for treatment of people with intermediate or high-risk myelofibrosis (MF), including primary MF, post–polycythemia vera MF, and post–essential thrombocythemia MF.
Ruxolitinib is not approved anywhere in the world as treatment for metastatic colorectal cancer.
Full Prescribing Information, including a more complete discussion of the risks associated with Jakafi, is available at www.jakafi.com.
Jakafi is marketed by Incyte in the United States and by Novartis as Jakavi (ruxolitinib) outside the United States.