Merck and Endocyte Enter Exclusive Worldwide Agreement to Develop and Commercialize Phase III Cancer Candidate Vintafolide (EC145) - MarketWatch

Merck and Endocyte Enter Exclusive Worldwide Agreement to Develop and Commercialize Phase III Cancer Candidate Vintafolide (EC145) - MarketWatch

Apr 16, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, MRK +0.58% and Endocyte Inc. ECYT +103.95% , today announced that they have entered into an agreement to develop and commercialize Endocyte's novel investigational therapeutic candidate vintafolide (EC145). Vintafolide is currently being evaluated in a Phase III clinical trial for platinum-resistant ovarian cancer, (PROCEED trial) and a Phase II trial for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC); both studies are also using Endocyte's investigational companion diagnostic agent, etarfolatide (EC20).

"Vintafolide is a promising and innovative late-stage cancer drug candidate. In addition to pursuing the lead indication of platinum-resistant ovarian cancer, Merck plans to further evaluate its potential for treatment of multiple other cancer types," said Peter S. Kim, executive vice president and president Merck Research Laboratories. "This agreement underscores our strategy of building a portfolio of oncology therapeutics that employ a companion diagnostic to facilitate selection of those patients most likely to respond to treatment.".....

Endocyte Receives USAN Approval for Nonproprietary Names of Novel Endocyte Drug Candidates - financial news (EC145/Vintafolide/Etarfolatide)

Endocyte Receives USAN Approval for Nonproprietary Names of Novel Endocyte Drug Candidates (Nasdaq:ECYT)

"March 22, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --

Endocyte, Inc.  (Nasdaq:ECYT), a biopharmaceutical company developing targeted small molecule drug conjugates (SMDCs) and companion imaging diagnostics for personalized therapy, today announced that the World Health Organization and the United States Adopted Names (USAN) Council have approved the nonproprietary name "vintafolide" (pronounced vin ta foe' lide) for Endocyte's therapeutic drug candidate EC145 and the nonproprietary name of "etarfolatide" (pronounced et" ar foe' la tide) for Endocyte's companion imaging agent EC20. Vintafolide and etarfolatide are currently being evaluated in the Phase 3 PROCEED trial for the treatment of women with folate-receptor positive platinum-resistant ovarian cancer. Etarfolatide is being used to select patients with tumors that over-express folate receptors and who are most likely to benefit from vintafolide therapy. Endocyte intends to file European Marketing Authorisation Applications for both agents based on positive Phase 2 results............."

Endocyte jumps on plans for cancer drug candidate - Bioscience Technology (EC145 vs Doxil - re: Doxil drug shortage....)

Endocyte jumps on plans for cancer drug candidate - Bioscience Technology:

The Inquisitr

Endocyte jumps on plans for cancer drug candidate Bioscience Technology The study is designed to compare EC145 to the chemotherapy drug Doxil as a treatment for ovarian cancer. Enrollment stopped because of a shortage of Doxil, and the company said Tuesday that the Food and Drug Administration will allow it to import the ... Endocyte Prepares To Restart Clinical Trials For Experimental Cancer DrugThe Inquisitr Endocyte to seek European OK for ovarian cancer drugIndianapolis Star Endocyte to Submit EU Conditional Marketing Authorization Applications for ...MarketWatch (press release) Wall Street Journal -Indianapolis Business Journal all 21 news articles »

ASCO - Endocyte Officials to Present Results from Four Clinical Trials at ASCO Annual Meeting - PRECEDENT = EC145/platinum resistant ovarian

"Interim results from the PRECEDENT study, a randomized phase II study of the combination of EC145 and Doxil for the treatment of patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer, will be provided during an oral presentation. EC145 is a folate-targeted conjugate of a very potent chemotherapy drug."