TAMPA, Fla. — Moffitt Cancer Center and GLG Pharma, LLC announced today that they have entered into a licensing agreement under which GLG Pharma, LLC has acquired the exclusive worldwide rights to a technology platform that includes a series of STAT3 inhibitors. Researchers at Moffitt discovered several classes of STAT3 inhibitors and evaluated their potential pre-clinically as novel anti-cancer drugs.
"Persistently activated STAT3 is a major contributor to human cancer; validating its usefulness as a cancer therapeutic target in collaboration with GLG will be a major milestone," said Said Sebti, Ph.D., chair of the Drug Discovery Department at Moffitt.
"One of several recent startup companies to be based on Moffitt technologies, GLG brings a highly experienced management team to the mix," said Ray Carpenter, senior licensing manager of The Office of Technology Management and Commercialization at Moffitt. "Their combined experience in taking technologies through clinical trials instills confidence that these technologies surrounding an important target, like the STAT3 pathway, is being placed in capable hands. Our office is delighted that GLG Pharma will move this technology from the laboratory to the clinic to improve patient care."
Under the license agreement, GLG Pharma has agreed to pay Moffitt when various commercialization milestones are reached, as well as make royalty payments on the sales of testing services and licensed products.
"This license agreement is the first key milestone established for the company in 2010," said Hector J. Gomez, M.D., Ph.D., CEO of GLG Pharma. "We believe that STAT3 inhibitors are the next generation of targeted therapies. They are anticipated to be very specific, have a broad spectrum of activity and are expected to be well tolerated and more efficacious compounds than current therapies."
About Moffitt Cancer Center
Located in Tampa, Florida, Moffitt Cancer Center is an NCI Comprehensive Cancer Center - a designation that recognizes Moffitt's excellence in research and contributions to clinical trials, prevention and cancer control. Moffitt currently has 15 affiliates in Florida, one in Georgia and two in Puerto Rico. Additionally, Moffitt is a member of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, a prestigious alliance of the country's leading cancer centers, and is listed in U.S. News & World Report as one of "America's Best Hospitals" for cancer. Moffitt's sole mission is to contribute to the prevention and cure of cancer.
About GLG Pharma, LLC
GLG Pharma, LLC, is an early stage Florida biotechnology company founded to develop personalized therapies for patients with cancer. GLG Pharma's therapeutics will treat a wide variety of cancers and address unmet needs in the multi-billion ($75-80 billion by 2012) dollar anti-cancer market with potentially greater efficacy and fewer side effects than existing therapies.