Toray Industries, Inc. (headquarters: Chuo-ku, Tokyo; President: Akihiro Nikkaku; hereinafter referred to as “Toray”) announced today that it agreed to develop TRK-880, a novel anti-cancer drug that it acquired from Systems Oncology, LLC (headquarters: Scottsdale, Arizona, U.S.; CEO Spyro Mousses; hereinafter referred to as “SO”). The companies signed a licensing agreement on March 30, 2018 for world-wide rights to the agent and agreed that Toray would advance the drug into the clinic to treat a wide spectrum of cancer types.

The agent is a small molecular drug with a novel mechanism that annihilates cancer cells. Specifically, the agent is activated by an enzyme which is known to be specifically overexpressed in cancer cells across multiple types of cancers. This enzyme activation produces a large amount of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in cancer cells, which in turn leads to potent and cancer specific cell death. Based on the pre-clinical results, we expect that this novel agent will be both effective and safe as a cancer therapy for a very broad spectrum of cancer types and reach blockbuster potential around the world.

Under the agreement, Toray gained exclusive, world-wide development, marketing and manufacturing rights of the agent from SO and will be carrying out development of the agent. In return, Toray gave SO an up front payment on signing of the agreement and will make milestone payments corresponding to the progress in development and a running royalty depending on the sales of the agent once it is introduced in the market.

Toray has long been working on its own research efforts to create novel cancer treatments including TRK-950, a solid tumor treatment, and began Phase I clinical trials in March 2017. Following in the footsteps of TRK-950, Toray will also advance the TRK-880 agent towards clinical development, enhancing Toray’s product pipeline in the cancer treatment field.

Toray has prioritized oncology as one of the important areas for its pharmaceuticals business and has been working on the creation of industry leading therapies that have the potential to truly improve outcomes for patients. This latest deal is consistent with Toray’s mission to achieve a healthy society through development of innovative drugs.

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Release in Japanese: Toray’s News Page

About Toray
HQ Location: Chuo-ku, Tokyo, JAPAN
Established: 1926
President: Akihiro Nikkaku
www.toray.com

About Systems Oncology
HQ Location: Scottsdale, Arizona, U.S.
Established: 2015
CEO: Spyro Mousses
www.systemsoncology.com

Media Contact
Systems Oncology
Katy Marhenke
info@systemsoncology.com