Servier will be partnering with Clovis Oncology, for the development of lucitanib which is an oral, dual selective inhibitor of the tyrosine kinase activity of fibroblast growth factor receptors 1 and 2 (FGFR1/2) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) receptors 1-3 (VEGFR 1-3).
Patrick J. Mahaffy, Clovis Oncology’s president and CEO declared that; they are pleased to expand their clinical development program to include lucitanib – it has demonstrated proof of concept in a Phase I/IIa study with objective responses in patients with FGF-aberrant breast cancer as well as other angiogenesis-sensitive tumors. Objective Response in Breast Cancer Patients In an ongoing Phase I/IIa clinical study, lucitanib has demonstrated multiple objective responses in FGF aberrant breast cancer patients, and objective responses have also been observed in patients with tumors often sensitive to VEGFR inhibitors, such as renal cell and thyroid cancer. Dr Emmanuel Canet, Head of Research and Development at Servier, declared that Clovis’ decision to pursue the development of lucitanib was a great opportunity, leading the way for a strong global clinical evaluation for lucitanib. After on-going Phase II monotherapy studies for lucitanib are successfully completed, Servier and Clovis intend to pursue future development of lucitanib as monotherapy and/or in combination with estrogen antagonists in treatmentrefractory breast cancer.