January 25, 2008
Patient group's biotech deal part of growing trend
Sunesis Pharmaceuticals Inc. said the Multiple Myeloma Research Consortium will evaluate a Sunesis drug known as SNS-032 as a potential treatment of multiple myeloma. Financial details of the collaboration, announced last month, were not disclosed, but both parties said funding is only one of the deal's advantages.
Five institutions affiliated with the consortium are evaluating the preclinical activity of the compound in multiple myeloma-relevant models and in primary disease tissue.
Getting that access to fresh tissue samples from multiple myeloma patients alone "would have taken a lot of time and a lot of money," said Judy Fox, senior director and the project's manager at Sunesis.
Steven Young, executive director of the Multiple Myeloma Research Consortium, said money is one of many obstacles to drug development. "This collaboration means access to expertise and funding as well," he said. "If we can reduce the barriers, that's a major win."
Biotechs and nonprofit institutes have increasingly turned to new funding sources as a slower flow of venture capital into early-stage companies and a funding plateau at the National Institutes of Health has limited money for work on preclinical compounds.
Large pharmaceutical companies like GlaxoSmithKline, for example, have stepped up to provide funding to a number of Bay Area companies. Likewise, the J. David Gladstone Institutes have struck research deals with Merck & Co. and Gilead Sciences Inc.
Additionally, nonprofits like the Multiple Myeloma Research Consortium and its older sibling, the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation, are stepping in with so-called venture philanthropy that is directly focused at finding treatments and cures.
"Our pipeline is growing pretty rapidly," said Anne Quinn Young (no relation to Steven Young), program director of the foundation.
The consortium hasn't had drugs move forward yet, but it is backing nine trials and will open five to 10 more this year.
For Sunesis, having several experiments going on in parallel at five institutions was attractive, said Rachael Hawtin, associate director and a senior scientist at the company.
"From the science point of view, being able to talk to the science team leader and talk about the data with an expert in the field -- that's really huge for us," she said.
All contents ©2008 American City Business Journals Inc. All rights reserved.
