Bristol-Myers Squibb Company and
Simcere Pharmaceutical Group, a leading pharmaceutical company in China, today announced
an innovative strategic partnership to co-develop BMS-817378, a preclinical
small molecule MET/VEGFR-2 inhibitor. This unique arrangement represents a
creative approach to accelerate a preclinical oncology compound to clinical
proof-of-concept by leveraging the complementary strengths of a premier Chinese
pharmaceutical company and a global pharmaceutical company. This partnership
represents a novel development stage relationship for Bristol-Myers Squibb with
a Chinese company, and a novel partnership approach for Bristol-Myers Squibb to
leverage its early stage pipeline in support of its BioPharma strategy.
Under the terms of the agreement, Simcere receives exclusive
rights to develop and commercialize BMS-817378 in China while Bristol-Myers Squibb
retains exclusive rights in all other markets. The parties will together
determine the strategic development plan, which will initially be performed by
Simcere. Financial terms were not disclosed.
“This ground-breaking partnership demonstrates how a
leading research and development based Chinese company can work together with a
global pharmaceutical company to accelerate a drug development timeline and conduct
first-in-human studies in China.
This approach allows the partnership to leverage our well-recognized clinical
and regulatory capabilities and our access to the vast patient pool in China,” commented
Dr. Peng Wang, chief scientific officer, Simcere Pharmaceutical Group.
“We are committed to working with companies in China in a
creative and innovative fashion. This new partnership represents just such an example,”
said Francis Cuss, senior vice president, Research, Bristol-Myers Squibb.
“We are excited to embark on this partnership with Simcere. Working
together we are building on the strengths of both organizations to develop
potential medicines and help patients.”
