STA to market and distribute PharmaMar’s cancer drug Aplidin in Australia and New Zealand

Plitidepsin is an investigational anticancer agent of marine origin, originally obtained from the ascidian Aplidium albicans.

As part of the deal, PharmaMar will receive an upfront payment, royalties as well as additional remunerations for regulatory and sales milestones achieved by Aplidin.

The Spanish firm will retain exclusive production rights and will supply the finished product to STA for commercial use in these two countries.

Aplidin is the company’s second anticancer drug candidate obtained from a marine organism and is currently being developed to treat multiple myeloma and a type of T cell lymphoma.

In June, the company completed patient enrollment in the international pivotal Phase III trial (Admyre) for Aplidin in refractory/relapsed multiple myeloma.

PharmaMar chairman José María Fernández Sousa-Faro said: "Our commitment to bringing innovative therapies to all patients continues, and this collaboration with a strong pharmaceutical group in Australia and New Zealand is crucial for the role of the anticancer drug plitidepsin in these two important territories."

Plitidepsin specifically binds to the eEF1A2 and targets the non-canonical role of this protein, resulting in tumor cell death via apoptosis (programmed death).

Currently, Plitidepsin is in clinical development for hematological cancers, including a Phase III trial in relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma, a Phase Ib trial in relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma as a triple combination of plitidepsin, bortezomib and dexamethasone, and a Phase II trial in relapsed or refractory angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma.