Tuesday, June 30, 2020
VITRAC Therapeutics, LLC (VITRAC) initiated the global clinical development of VIC-1911, an oncology candidate formally known as TAS-119, which was licensed from Taiho Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (Taiho), a Japan-based oncology company. Two Phase-1 clinical studies have been conducted in the US and Europe by Taiho. VITRAC obtained an exclusive and global development and commercialization rights for TAS-119, and its IND has been successfully transferred to VITRAC in the US with a new code name, VIC-1911.
“It is our honor to succeed the development of this drug that has been diligently developed by Taiho, and to be able to develop a potent Aurora A specific inhibitor, VIC-1911. This drug will give more treatment options to cancer patients since Aurora Kinase plays key oncogenic roles related to their mitotic activity, promote cancer cell survival, and proliferation,” said Keizo Koya, Ph.D., President of VITRAC Therapeutics.
VITRAC also made an alliance with JS InnoMed Holdings (JSI) by sublicensing the China rights of VIC-1911 to accelerate the global development. “JSI is an amazing biopharmaceutical company filled with creative and distinguished scientists managed by a notable leader, Dr. Jintao Zhang. It is exciting to collaborate on a global scale towards the development of this drug with potential to ameliorate the lives of patients,” said Dr. Koya.
