TOKYO/FLORENCE, November 28, 2016 -- Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (TOKYO: 4519) and Berlin-Chemie Menarini, a company of the Menarini Group, announced that both companies have entered into a global license agreement for PA799, class I PI3K inhibitor.

PA799 is the PI3K inhibitor originated by Chugai, which conducted phase 1 study for solid tumors in Europe. With its high selectivity for class I enzyme, the drug candidate showed a good safety profile in the clinical trial.

“We are pleased to sign a license agreement for PA799 with Menarini Group,” said Chugai’s Representative Director, President and Chief Operating Officer, Tatsuro Kosaka. “PI3K is assumed to be one of the important kinases in the signaling pathway for the proliferation, the differentiation and the survival of tumor cells. We hope that the development of PA799 by Menarini Group will bring benefit to the patients as early as possible.”

“We are excited about the opportunity to develop this anti-cancer agent, we believe in the mechanism of action of the PA799, and we are confident it will bring a great value to cancer patients in the world,” said Reinhard Uppenkamp, Chief Executive Officer of Berlin-Chemie Menarini. “The scientific skills of Chugai and ability to conduct clinical trials and regulatory activities of Menarini Group will be in synergy for the future development of this product.”

“We welcome the achievement of this strategic partnership with Chugai. This agreement allows us to add a key component in our portfolio, in fact, we make today a key step in the effort to expand the multimodal oncology pipeline of Menarini Group.” said Lucia Aleotti, Chairman of Menarini Group.

Under the agreement, Chugai will grant Menarini Group an exclusive license for the manufacturing, development and marketing of PA799 worldwide. Under the terms of the agreement, Chugai will receive an upfront, milestone and royalty payments from Menarini Group.