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news.AVEO Oncology and Astellas Pharma have agreed to end their worldwide collaboration and license agreement for the development and commercialization of AVEO's investigational agent tivozanib, an investigational tyrosine kinase inhibitor of all three vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) receptors.
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In 2011, the companies have signed a worldwide agreement to develop and market tivozanib outside of Asia for the treatment of a broad range of cancers
As part of that deal, Astellas has exercised its right to terminate the agreement for strategic reasons, based on the clinical status of the three indications studied.
In addition, the companies agreed to discontinue the ongoing Phase II BATON (Biomarker Assessment of Tivozanib in ONcology) trial in patients with colorectal cancer (CRC).
The termination of the collaboration will be effective 11 August 2014, after which Aveo will retain the rights to the drug.
In accordance with the collaboration and license deal, committed development expenses will be shared equally.
AVEO president and chief executive officer Tuan Ha-Ngoc said the company would like to thank Astellas for its commitment to tivozanib and its partnership over the past three years.
"Given today’s announcements, we are re-aligning our resources behind key development opportunities to bring clinically meaningful treatments to patients and create shareholder value," Ha-Ngoc said.
"We look forward to outlining our corporate strategy when we report our fourth quarter and full year 2013 results."
Astellas president and CEO Yoshihiko Hatanaka said while the decision is based on strategic reasons, the company is proud of its partnership and work with AVEO.
"We remain committed to the field of Oncology to help meet the unmet needs of cancer patients," Hatanaka said.