CMO Frontida invests equity in Oncoceutics to establish long-term relationship

10-Jan-2018 - Last updated on 10-Jan-2018 at 16:24 GMT

(Image: Getty/scyther5)

Frontida BioPharm has made an equity investment in Oncoceutics as part of a product development and commercialization agreement to advance the company's lead compound.

The Philadelphia, PA-headquartered contract manufacturing organization (CMO) will develop and scale-up the finished product manufacturing process for Oncoceutics lead compound, ONC201, an antagonist of the G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR) dopamine receptor D2 (DRD2).

According to the company, the molecule is the first designed to target this receptor specifically for oncology and is currently in Phase II clinical trials for select advanced cancers.

“This is a complementary partnership that provides significant benefits to both companies, including bringing this life-saving therapy to patients,” said Ron Connolly, Chief Operations Officer of Frontida BioPharm.

"Oncoceutics has seen some remarkable patient outcomes and this partnership allows us to use our development and manufacturing capabilities to bring Oncoceutics’ therapy to the market," he told us.

The project initiates Frontida’s relationship with Oncoceutics, which also includes an equity investment.

“We made an equity investment because we believe in this molecule and wanted to establish a long-term mutually beneficial relationship with Oncoceutics,” Connolly explained.

Frontida plans to continue with the development and manufacturing program of the molecule and "seeing it through to FDA approval,” said Connolly, who added that the company also hopes to collaborate with Oncoceutics on other programs on their platform.