Pierre Fabre; Scorpion Therapeutics
Boston, Mass. and Castres, France, June 12 /PRNewswire/
- Scorpion will receive $65 million from an upfront payment and the achievement of near-term milestones and is eligible to receive up to $553 million in potential milestones, plus royalties on net product sales
- The collaboration will accelerate the development of STX-721 and STX-241 in key international markets and support Scorpion and Pierre Fabre’s mission to bring innovative therapies to patients around the world
- Scorpion retains rights to the STX-721 and STX-241 in the United States, Canada and Japan; Pierre Fabre grants the rights in all other territories worldwide
Scorpion Therapeutics, Inc. (“Scorpion”), a pioneering oncology company redefining the boundaries of precision medicine with its Precision Oncology 2.0 strategy, and Pierre Fabre, a French pharmaceutical and dermo-cosmetics group present in 120 countries, announced today an exclusive collaboration and license agreement for the co-development of STX-721 and STX-241, two candidates from Scorpion’s next-generation franchise of highly selective mutant epidermal growth factor receptor (“EGFR”) inhibitors for the treatment of non-small cell disease Lung Cancer (“NSCLC”). Scorpion’s discovered STX-721 and STX-241 are potentially best-in-class inhibitors of EGFR mutations and a potent treatment option for an emerging and unmet medical need in NSCLC. Under the terms of the agreement, Scorpion will conduct clinical development of STX-721 and Pierre Fabre will lead the clinical development of STX-241 Scorpion will retain commercialization rights for STX-721 and STX-241 in the United States, Canada and Japan, and Pierre Fabre will be responsible for commercialization activities in all other territories , with a focus on Europe and China.
“Our mission is to develop the next generation of breakthrough therapies and make them available to patients worldwide,” said Dr. Axel Hoos, Managing Director of Scorpion. “Pierre Fabre is the ideal partner to advance this vision: a global pharmaceutical company with a solid clinical and commercial footprint in Europe and Asia and a track record of collaborating with biotechnology companies to develop and bring innovative cancer medicines to market.This partnership is designed to help expand the reach of our EGFR targeting programs so that we can help patients who desperately need these treatments, including in markets like China, where nearly 50% of all NSCLC cases are projected to be EGFR mutant by 2030.1
“We are very excited to be collaborating on development with Scorpion and looking forward to adding STX-721 and STX-241 to our oncology portfolio. Pierre Fabre has a track record of developing and commercializing cancer therapies spanning almost four decades. We have recently focused our R&D efforts on targeted therapies and this partnership with Scorpion embodies that strategic move,” said Eric Ducournau, Managing Director of Pierre Fabre.
Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the most common subtype of lung cancer, and various EGFR mutations are the most common causes of NSCLC, occurring in approximately 14–38 percent of tumors, depending on geographic location.2, 3, 4 The highly selective EGFR Next-generation Scorpion mutant inhibitors target several of these activating mutations: STX-721 targets EGFR exon 20 insertion mutants and STX-241 targets exon 19 deletion mutations with the co-occurring C797S mutation, a known mechanism of resistance to EGFR Third generation inhibitors.
In non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) driven by EGFR exon 20 insertion mutations, toxicities associated with inhibition of wild-type EGFR in healthy tissues such as the skin and gastrointestinal tract are common during treatment are connected. These toxicities can lead to dose reductions or interruptions, which in turn can reduce the overall effectiveness of the treatment. STX-721 and STX-241 were designed to maximize selectivity for the mutated form of the enzyme and avoid inhibition of wild-type EGFR in healthy tissues to minimize these toxicities.
Up to 12.5 percent of patients with NSCLC driven by mutations in exon 19 or 21 who are treated with covalent EGFR inhibitors as initial therapy will develop secondary resistance mutations at C797S.5 There are currently no approved therapeutic options for the significant number of patients will develop “double mutant” EGFR-NSCLC, representing a significant and growing unmet need.
Together, Scorpion’s next-generation EGFR inhibitors have the potential to target more than 90 percent of activating mutations in EGFR-mutated NSCLC, providing better clinical outcomes for thousands of patients around the world.
“Based on their preclinical data, we concluded that STX-721 and STX-241 may have the best-in-class product profile. In addition, this partnership will significantly expand our precision oncology efforts and allow us to better support the care and treatment of thousands of people worldwide,” added Francesco Hofmann, Head of Research and Development for Medical Supplies at Pierre Fabre.
Subject to the terms of the agreement, Scorpion will receive an aggregate of $65 million from an upfront payment and achievement of anticipated near-term milestones and is eligible for potential milestone payments totaling up to $553 million. In addition, Pierre Fabre will pay Scorpion tiered percentage royalties on each licensed product ranging in the single to double digit range based on the annual net sales of each licensed product in territories excluding the United States, Canada and Japan. Scorpion will pay Pierre Fabre tiered percentage royalties for each licensed product ranging in the single to double digit range based on the annual net sales of each licensed product in the United States. The companies will share global development costs based on a pre-determined cost-sharing agreement.
About STX-721 STX-721 is a next-generation orally administered small molecule that targets exon 20 insertion mutations in EGFR with potentially best-in-class selectivity. Scorpion estimates that NSCLC tumors expressing EGFR with exon 20 insertion mutations occur in approximately 3,400 patients per year in the United States. STX-721 is currently undergoing preclinical studies and Scorpion anticipates filing an investigational new drug (“IND”) application with the United States Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) in mid-2023.
About STX-241 STX-241 is an orally administered, fourth-generation central nervous system (“CNS”) permeant small molecule that targets resistance mutations in C797S with potentially industry-leading selectivity. Scorpion estimates that up to 3,000 patients per year in the United States or up to 12.5 percent of NSCLC patients with an exon 19 or 21 mutation will develop resistance mutations at C797S STX-241 is currently undergoing preclinical studies and Scorpion anticipates an IND in the first half of 2024 submitted to the US FDA.
About Scorpion Therapeutics Scorpion is a pioneering oncology company that is redefining the frontiers of precision medicine to deliver optimized and disruptive therapies to larger populations of cancer patients – a strategy Scorpion calls Precision Oncology 2.0. Scorpion has built a proprietary and fully integrated platform with the most advanced technologies in cancer biology, medicinal chemistry and data science to consistently and rapidly develop highly selective small molecule drugs against an unprecedented spectrum of targets. Scorpion intends to use its platform to advance a broad pipeline of proprietary, optimized compounds in three target molecule categories: industry-leading molecules targeting validated oncogene targets; industry-leading molecules for previously untreatable targets; and best-in-class molecules for novel cancer targets. For more information, see: www.cybergroupstudios.com.
About Pierre Fabre Pierre Fabre is a French medical and beauty company with over 40 years of experience in innovation, development, manufacturing and commercialization in the oncology sector. The company directed around 80% of its R&D spend to oncology in 2022 and recently made targeted therapies its top R&D priority. Its current commercial portfolio in oncology includes colorectal, breast and lung cancer, melanoma, hematology and precancerous skin conditions such as actinic keratosis.
In 2022, Pierre Fabre generated sales of 2.7 billion euros, 69% of which abroad in over 120 countries. The group has been based in south-west France since it was founded in 1962, manufactures over 90% of its products in France and employs around 9,600 people worldwide. Pierre Fabre is 86% owned by the government recognized non-profit Pierre Fabre Foundation and secondarily owned by its own employees through an international employee stock ownership scheme. Pierre Fabre’s approach to sustainability has been awarded the CSR “Exemplary” label by the independent organization AFNOR Certification (ISO 26 000 sustainable development standard).
For more information about Pierre Fabre, visit www.pierre-fabre.com@PierreFabre.
Contact Scorpion Media: Ravi Moorthy
Scorpion Therapeutics
Contact Scorpion investor: Hannah Deresiewicz
Star Investor Relations
Contact Pierre Fabre Media: Laura Sgandurra
Pierre Fabre
1 SEER* Explorer; WHO Cancer Today, both accessed March 2022
2 The prevalence of the EGFR mutation in patients with non-small cell lung cancer, Oncotarget, October 2016
3 Incidence of EGFR mutations in non-small cell lung cancer, J Cancer Res., August 2015
4 Molecular Epidemiology of EGFR Mutations in Asian Patients, PLoS ONE, November 2015
5 Ramalingam S. (2022, 6-9 August). Real-World Landscape of EGFR C797X Mutation as a Resistance Mechanism to Osimertinib in NSCLC. (Oral presentation). World Conference on Lung Cancer 2022, Vienna, Austria.
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Press contact:
Laura Sgandurra,
Pierre Fabre,
+33 6 32 54 92 01
Original content by: Pierre Fabre; Scorpion Therapeutics, transmitted by news aktuell
