MEI Pharma, BeiGene to co-develop cancer drug

MEI Pharma, a late-stage pharmaceutical company focused on advancing new therapies for cancer and BeiGene, a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing innovative molecularly-targeted and immuno-oncology drugs for the treatment of cancer, have announced a clinical collaboration to evaluate the safety and efficacy of MEI's ME-401, an investigational PI3K delta inhibitor, in combination with BeiGene's zanubrutinib, an investigational BTK inhibitor, for the treatment of patients with B-cell malignancies.

"We are excited to be working with BeiGene to explore the potential of ME-401 in combination with zanubrutinib," said Robert Mass, M.D., chief medical officer of MEI Pharma. "Combinatorial approaches to fighting difficult to treat cancers historically have proven to be important in the delivery of better treatments to patients, and we believe that the data observed to date for ME-401, with its unique pharmaceutical properties, and for zanubrutinib support the evaluation of the combination for the treatment of patients with various B-cell malignancies."

"Zanubrutinib is a potentially differentiated BTK inhibitor that is being globally developed in a number of B-cell malignancies both as a monotherapy and in combination. We look forward to exploring this interesting combination in patients with B-cell malignancies," commented Jane Huang, M.D., chief medical officer, hematology, at BeiGene.

Under the terms of the clinical collaboration agreement, MEI will amend its ongoing Phase 1b trial to include evaluation of ME-401 in combination with zanubrutinib in patients with B-cell malignancies.

Study costs will be shared equally by the parties, and MEI will supply ME-401 and BeiGene will supply zanubrutinib. MEI will retain full commercial rights for ME-401 and BeiGene will retain full commercial rights for zanubrutinib.

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