Galena Biopharma, DRL in strategic partnership for NeuVax

US-based Galena Biopharma and Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Ltd have announced a strategic development and commercialisation partnership for former's NeuVax (nelipepimut-S) in India.
NeuVax is a peptide-based vaccine aimed at preventing or delaying the recurrence of breast cancer in cancer survivors who achieve remission after standard of care treatment.
According to a press release issued by Galena, the US drug-maker will licence commercial rights to Dr. Reddy's for NeuVax in breast and gastric cancers and the Indian drug maker will lead the development of NeuVax in gastric cancer, significantly expanding the potential addressable patient population.
Dr. Reddy's Chairman & CEO G V Prasad said the partnership accelerates the company's strong commitment to innovation and efforts to bring newer options for cancer patients.

"We are delighted with our partnership with Galena Biopharma and we believe NeuVax can be a good potential treatment option to prevent the recurrence of breast and gastric cancer," Prasad said.
Galena Biopharm President & CEO Mark J Ahn said the partnership with Dr. Reddy's is consistent with their strategy to expand the clinical utility of NeuVax in unmet medical needs while simultaneously increasing the commercial footprint of this innovative cancer immunotherapy.

"Dr. Reddy's is a leading pharmaceutical company in India with significant commercialisation and development expertise. The gastric cancer trial will add a significant indication to our pipeline for NeuVax, while doubling our potential patient population if approved," Ahn said.

Galena said it will receive development and sales milestones, as well as double-digit royalties on net sales.
According to reports, breast cancer is the most common diagnosed malignancy in women worldwide (22 per cent) and in India (18.5 per cent) it ranks second to cervical cancer.