Felicitex Therapeutics, Selvita Link Against Cancer Quiescence
Cambridge-based Felicitex Therapeutics and Polish biotech firm Selvita announced that the companies have agreed to enter into a collaboration to develop breakthrough personalized cancer drugs against lethal and resistant cancers, including colon, lung, ovarian, pancreatic, and hematopoietic tumors.
The first part of the collaboration will run for 15 months with an option for Felicitex to extend it for another 12 months. In the early stage of the collaboration, the partners hope to discover and develop selective inhibitors of the cancer quiescence target kinase family to determine several drug candidates against quiescent cancer cells.
Quiescent cancer cells are not vulnerable to current cancer chemotherapies because these current therapies are only designed to target dividing cancer cells. Cancer cells have been known to go to “sleep” or lapse into a quiescent state when undergoing stress, such as chemotherapy, anti-angiogenesis therapy, or radiation. Later after the treatment is completed, they awaken and cause the disease to recur.
The collaboration will leverage Felicitex Therapeutics’ technology to target quiescent, non-responsive cancer cells. The company’s technology works toward two outcomes – first by making cancer cells vulnerable to current treatments, and second by preventing cancer cells from “sleeping” in a quiescent state for an undetermined period of time, in turn cutting down on the chance for disease recurrence.
Dr. Maria Vilenchik, Founder, CEO, and Scientific Director of Felicitex Therapeutics, said, “Cancer cell quiescence is a major and as yet unaddressed mechanism of cancer resistance… Our collaboration with Selvita creates the opportunity to identify novel therapeutic solutions and bring hope to cancer patients.”
Pawel Przewiezlikowski, CEO of Selvita, said, “We want to partner with best scientific teams in the world in order to explore different approaches against neoplastic processes… The unique know-how of Felicitex in the area of cancer quiescence together with scientific expertise of Selvita team will highly increase our chances to develop new highly-differentiated therapeutics.”
Under the terms of the research collaboration, Felicitex will provide the necessary research funds to Selvita, which will also receive a value share in joint projects that could lead to milestone payments of shared program revenues. Selvita will also be eligible for royalties after co-discovered drugs have received regulatory approval.