BerGenBio Forays Clinical trial Pact with UT Health San Antonio and Sobi

A clinical trial agreement has been reached between Swedish Orphan Biovitrum AB (Sobi), a specialized international biopharmaceutical company, and the Mays Cancer Center at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UT Health San Antonio). BerGenBio ASA is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel, selective AXL kinase inhibitors for severe unmet medical needs.

The parties will work together to investigate BerGenBio's selective AXL inhibitor, bemcentinib, in conjunction with Sobi's pacritinib in patients with advanced lung cancer. The clinical study is externally sponsored and serves as a supplement to BerGenBio's ongoing Ph1b/2a clinical trial in first-line non-small cell lung cancer patients with STK11 mutations.

The clinical study will build on the groundbreaking work of Josephine A. Taverna, MD, a thoracic oncologist at Mays Cancer Center and Assistant Professor in the Division of Hematology and Oncology at UT Health San Antonio. Dr. Taverna's previous research has shown that AXL and JAK-STAT3 collaborate to provide signals that enhance tumor development and metastasis in advanced lung cancer. 

Martin Olin, chief executive officer of BerGenBio stated, “We are excited to work with two stellar partners to bring this intriguing area of research to patients. This study will further extend our knowledge of the role of selective AXL inhibition with bemcentinib in lung cancer, our area of highest strategic focus."