DATE 1-GTx, Merck to collaborate on muscle loss drugs
Tue Nov 6, 2007 1:25pm EST
Tue Nov 6, 2007 1:25pm EST
By Bill Berkrot
NEW YORK, Nov 6 (Reuters) - GTx Inc (GTXI.O: Quote, Profile, Research) and Merck & Co Inc (MRK.N: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Tuesday they will work together to develop a new class of muscle and bone-building drugs with the potential to treat several conditions in a deal that could bring GTx up to $422 million in future milestone payments.
GTx shares rose as much as 22 percent before giving back much of those gains.
Merck and GTx will combine their research programs on the class of drugs known as selective androgen receptor modulators, or SARMs, with a focus on GTx's lead candidate, Ostarine, which is currently in mid-stage clinical trials for treatment of muscle loss in cancer patients.
Results of that study are due in the summer of 2008, GTx Chief Executive Mitchell Steiner told Reuters in a telephone interview.
"These drugs have many potential indications, anything to do with muscle wasting or bone wasting," Steiner said.
Among the other possible conditions SARMs could address are age-related muscle loss, muscle loss associated with kidney disease, osteoporosis and other musculoskeletal conditions, Steiner said.
In early proof of concept studies, Ostarine demonstrated the ability to build muscle and may have the potential to improve physical performance, GTx said.
Continued...NEW YORK, Nov 6 (Reuters) - GTx Inc (GTXI.O: Quote, Profile, Research) and Merck & Co Inc (MRK.N: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Tuesday they will work together to develop a new class of muscle and bone-building drugs with the potential to treat several conditions in a deal that could bring GTx up to $422 million in future milestone payments.
GTx shares rose as much as 22 percent before giving back much of those gains.
Merck and GTx will combine their research programs on the class of drugs known as selective androgen receptor modulators, or SARMs, with a focus on GTx's lead candidate, Ostarine, which is currently in mid-stage clinical trials for treatment of muscle loss in cancer patients.
Results of that study are due in the summer of 2008, GTx Chief Executive Mitchell Steiner told Reuters in a telephone interview.
"These drugs have many potential indications, anything to do with muscle wasting or bone wasting," Steiner said.
Among the other possible conditions SARMs could address are age-related muscle loss, muscle loss associated with kidney disease, osteoporosis and other musculoskeletal conditions, Steiner said.
In early proof of concept studies, Ostarine demonstrated the ability to build muscle and may have the potential to improve physical performance, GTx said.
