Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will receive a $5 million milestone payment from Serono triggered by the progress on the Investigational New Drug (IND) application for R763, for which Phase I clinical trials in cancer patients shall commence later this year. R763 is a highly potent, orally available multi-Aurora kinase inhibitor. Serono licensed development and commercialization rights to Rigel's Aurora kinase inhibitor program, including R763 for cancer, in October 2005.
R763 has been shown in vitro and in in vivo tumor xenograft models to potently inhibit proliferation and trigger apoptosis in several leukemia and tumor cell lines including the cervix, colon, lung, pancreas and prostate.
"This is an important milestone for our collaboration with Serono, who will take R763 into clinical development in 2006. Given the broad applicability R763 has demonstrated on many types of solid tumors and leukemias, we're excited to see this compound move further along in development," said Donald G. Payan, M.D., executive vice president and chief scientific officer of Rigel.
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