Specialised Therapeutics Asia Pte Ltd. (ST) has signed a license deal with CanariaBio Inc., acquiring the exclusive license to a new monoclonal antibody therapy for patients with ovarian cancer in Australia, New Zealand and in select Southeast Asian countries. The therapy, known as oregovomab, is currently in a pivotal phase III international clinical trial known as the FLORA-5 study.2 This investigation is examining oregovomab in combination with chemotherapy agents carboplatin and paclitaxel for patients with advanced ovarian cancer. Under the terms of the arrangement, ST will be responsible for all commercial, medical, regulatory and distribution activities for oregovomab in its key territories of Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Brunei and Malaysia.

CanariaBio will be responsible for the manufacture and supply of oregovomab to ST. Ann announcing the partnership, ST Chief Executive Officer Carlo Montagner said he was pleased CanariaBio had selected ST as a partner for this highly promising therapy. Oregovomab works by targeting and binding specifically to a surface protein known as CA-125 found on the surface of ovarian cancer cells, then activating the patient's own immune system to respond.

In the Phase 2 study, the addition of oregovOMab to chemotherapy yielded a median progression-free survival of 41.8 months compared with 12.2 months with standard chemotherapy alone (HR, 0.46, P=0.0027). The overall survival hazard ratio was 0.35.1 The Phase 3 FLORA-5 study is fully enrolled and ongoing. Final results are expected in 2025.