Daiichi ditches Nektar following cancer drug flop
Pharma giant Daiichi Sankyo is bailing on its collaboration with Nektar Therapeutics $NKTR — and demanding a $12.5 million refund — following the smaller company’s failure to get its cancer drug Onzeald approved in Europe.
Daiichi Sankyo Europe struck a regional licensing deal with Nektar back in 2016, paying $20 million up front for rights to market the drug in Europe, Switzerland and Turkey. The duo was gambling on an early approval for Onzeald after researchers extracted data from their BEACON study on 67 advanced breast cancer patients with a history of brain metastases. The Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use was not impressed.
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