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Vertex Pharmaceuticals Announces Initiation of Phase II Development Program for Aurora Kinase Inhibitor MK-0457 (VX-680)
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Announces Initiation of Phase II Development Program for Aurora Kinase Inhibitor MK-0457 (VX-680).
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[{"type":"text","content":"\n\n\n\n\n -- Vertex earns $10 million milestone payment --\n\nCAMBRIDGE, Mass., April 5 /CNW/ -- Vertex Pharmaceuticals\nIncorporated (Nasdaq: VRTX) today announced the initiation of a Phase II\nclinical development program for VX-680, an investigational drug candidate\ntargeting Aurora kinase. In connection with the initiation of Phase II\ndevelopment, Vertex earned a $10 million milestone payment in March 2006 from\nMerck & Co., Inc. Vertex and Merck have a global collaboration to develop and\ncommercialize VX-680.\nThe initiation of Phase II development for VX-680 is based on the\nenrollment of patients with advanced colorectal cancer in a Phase II extension\nof a previous Phase I clinical study. In addition, Merck expects to initiate\na Phase II clinical study for VX-680 in patients with advanced lung cancer\nthis year.\n\"We continue to make progress in the development of VX-680 as marked by\nthe initiation of the Phase II clinical development program,\" said Stephen H.\nFriend, M.D., Ph.D., Executive Vice President, Oncology at Merck Research\nLaboratories. \"This Phase II study represents a continuation of our efforts\nto broadly assess the activity of VX-680 in a range of solid tumors and\nhematologic cancers.\"\n\"VX-680's advancement to Phase II clinical development underscores the\nrapid progress that we and Merck have made to characterize the activity of\nthis novel, potential cancer treatment,\" said Joshua Boger, Ph.D., Chairman,\nPresident and CEO of Vertex.\n\nPhase II Study in Colorectal Cancer\nThe initiation of Phase II development for VX-680 is based on the\nenrollment of patients with advanced colorectal cancer who may have received\nup to three prior cancer treatments. The open-label, non-randomized study\nwill enroll approximately 20 patients and is being conducted at major cancer\ntreatment centers in the U.S.\nAdditional information on clinical trials for VX-680 is available at the\nNational Institutes of Health clinical trial database at\nhttp://www.ClinicalTrials.gov (a service of the U.S. National Institutes of\nHealth developed by the National Library of Medicine).\n\nAACR Presentation\nOn Tuesday, April 4, 2006 at the 97th Annual Meeting for the American\nAssociation for Cancer Research (AACR) in Washington, DC, Vertex scientists\npresented a poster titled \"Structural Basis for Potent Inhibiti...