BOSTON - A small Cambridge biotech has inked three deals this year with major drug firms -- Amgen, Pfizer and now AstraZeneca -- which could net $1 billion for the maker of nanoparticles that promise to deliver drugs more efficiently to where they are needed in the body.
"This is a clear indication that nanomedicine has reached an inflection point," said Scott Minick, CEO of BIND Therapeutics. "The pharmaceutical industry is realizing it's a very important technology."
Founded in 2007, BIND's revolutionary drug delivery system grew out of a collaboration between MIT Professor Robert Langer and Professor Omid Farokhzad of Harvard Medical School.
Yesterday, BIND Therapeutics and AstraZeneca announced a deal to develop and commercialize a cancer nanomedicine.
The companies will work together to complete new studies of a specific Accurin, BIND's name for customized nanomedicine particles that selectively accumulate in diseased tissues and cells, leading to higher drug concentrations at the site of a tumor and reduced exposure to healthy tissues.
AstraZeneca will then have the exclusive right to lead development and commercialization, and BIND will lead manufacturing during the development phase.
"AstraZeneca believes that targeted therapies which specifically address the underlying mechanisms of disease are the future of personalized cancer treatment," Susan Galbraith, head of AstraZeneca's Oncology Innovative Medicines Unit, said. "Our oncology teams are actively exploring a range of platforms to deliver targeted therapies, with a strategic focus on unlocking the significant potential of nanoparticles as an approach to cancer treatment. We view BIND's targeted nanomedicines as a leading technology in this field."
BIND could receive upfront and pre-approval milestone payments totaling $69 million and more than $130 million in regulatory and sales milestones and other payments, as well as tiered single- to double-digit royalties on future sales, officials said.
The collaboration marks BIND's third global partnership with Big Pharma in four months, following deals with Amgen in January and Pfizer in March. ___
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Three big deals for BIND Therapeutics shows nanomedicine has arrived