Ore Pharmaceuticals is seeking a licensing partner for its intellectual property estate focused on the use of estrogen receptor alpha (ERα) status to therapeutically stratify patients with infiltrating ductal carcinoma of the breast for treatment with angiotensin II type I receptor (AT1-R) antagonists either alone or in combination with other therapies.
Breast Cancer Market
Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related mortality among women worldwide. In 2006, more than 450,000 cases of the disease were diagnosed in the seven major pharmaceutical markets, 75% of which were diagnosed as infiltrating ductal carcinoma, a cancer type with a propensity to metastasize via the lymphatic system to other tissues and organ systems. Despite recent drug approvals in the adjuvant and metastatic setting, high unmet needs still persist for this tumor type as the overall survival rate remains below five years.
Intellectual Property
Ore Pharmaceuticals has filed extensive claims related to the use of AT1-R antagonists for treating primary infiltrating ductal carcinoma of the breast in patients whose tumor is estrogen receptor positive (ER+). These findings are based on the discovery that the AT1-R transcript is up-regulated greater than 12-fold in ER+ primary IDC relative to ER- primary IDC (P = 0.0001). Importantly, 60% of IDC patients are typed as ER+ by clinical biopsy. Our claims are further supported by in vitro and in vivo pre-clinical data demonstrating that currently marketed AT1-R antagonists exhibit anti-proliferative effects on ER+ cell lines and tumor xenografts derived from infiltrating ductal carcinomas of the breast. Patent filings include a non-provisional patent application in the United States and a companion a PCT patent application both of which published on May 9th, 2008 as well as a CIP patent application filed on April 9th, 2008.
Partnering Opportunity
Ore Pharmaceuticals is interested in licensing this intellectual property to a pharmaceutical company with a currently marketed AT1-R antagonist or a comprehensive breast cancer franchise. Ore Pharmaceuticals is prepared to offer an exclusive, royalty bearing license in the field of use to the patent rights pertaining to the licensee’s own AT1-R antagonist.
For further information on this opportunity, please contact:
John Herrmann
Vice President, Strategic Alliances & Licensing
240-361-4427
jherrmann@orepharma.com
