A 3-year oncology pact between Lianyungang-based Jiangsu Hengrui Medicine and the MD Anderson Cancer Center at the University of Texas in Houston will work with an immuno-oncology focus on combination therapies, personalized medicine and new treatment opportunities.
In a press release, the research effort was said to be aimed at bringing together "the scientific and clinical capabilities of MD Anderson and Jiangsu Hengrui Medicine."
The effort in Texas comes after the firm said last month it had entered a research pact with New York's Albert Einstein College of Medicine to study cancer therapies aimed at discovering new targets for development.
"The collaboration will also further strengthen Hengrui's leading position in oncology drug development in China, especially in the field of personalized medicine and immuno-oncology," said Guoqing Cao, VP of Jiangsu Hengrui Medicine.
Hengrui has a PD-1 drug candidate, SHR-1210, and last year out-licensed ex-China rights to Incyte as it moves further into drug discovery. Incyte ($INCY) paid $25 million upfront for a candidate that Hengrui has previously said it expects to enter a Phase II trial in patients with solid tumor cancers.
Also last year, the company announced plans to invest as much as $240 million to build a biopharmaceutical manufacturing plant in Jiangsu Province capable of making export-quality products, among a slew of deals made to build out a manufacturing and research effort in oncology and other therapeutic areas such as cardiovascular and metabolic diseases.
- here's the release