Calithera Biosciences Gains Exclusive, Worldwide License to Mars Symbioscience’s Arginase Inhibitors
Tuesday, December 9, 2014
Calithera Biosciences Gains Exclusive, Worldwide License to Mars Symbioscience’s Arginase Inhibitors
South San Francisco, Calif., Dec.9, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE)-- Calithera Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:CALA) announced today the signing of an exclusive global license agreement with Mars Symbioscience (“Symbioscience”), a division of Mars, Incorporated, granting Calithera rights to research, develop and commercialize Symbioscience’s portfolio of arginase inhibitors, discovered as part of Mars’ cocoa flavanol research program, for use in human healthcare. Symbioscience’s preclinical arginase inhibitor program will enhance Calithera’s efforts to submit an Investigational New Drug application for an arginase inhibitor with the FDA for the treatment of cancer near the end of 2015.
"We believe that drugs targeting immuno-oncology and tumor metabolism pathways have the potential to be transformational in the treatment of cancer, and at Calithera, we are dedicated to researching and developing potential first-in-class therapies that could significantly advance these promising fields of research," said Susan M. Molineaux, PhD, President and CEO, Calithera Biosciences. "I am particularly excited about this agreement because we believe we can apply our core expertise in tumor biology to rapidly advance Symbioscience’s potent and selective small-molecule arginase inhibitors into the clinic to develop a first-in-class immuno-oncology therapy for cancer patients.”
Click here to read the full press release.
Read more news from Mars Center for Cocoa Health Science, including the latest cocoa flavanol research
About Calithera Biosciences
Calithera Biosciences is a clinical-stage company focused on discovering and developing novel small molecule drugs directed against tumor metabolism and tumor immunology. Calithera's lead clinical candidate, CB-839, is a first-in-class inhibitor of glutaminase, a critical enzyme in tumor metabolism, and is currently being tested in patients with solid and hematological cancers. Calithera Biosciences is headquartered in South San Francisco. For more information about Calithera Biosciences, please visit www.calithera.com
