YM Biosciences
| Industry |
Pharmaceutics Biotechnology |
|---|---|
| Fate | Merged into Gilead Sciences |
| Successor | Gilead Sciences |
| Founded | 1992 |
| Founders | David Allan (CEO) Tarrnie Williams (Director) |
| Defunct | 2013 |
| Headquarters | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Products | CYT-387 |
| Revenue | $21 million In 2012 |
| Website | www.ymbiosciences.com |
YM BioSciences Inc. is a Canadian drug development company primarily focused on advancing CYT-387, an orally administered inhibitor of both the JAK1 and JAK2 kinases, which have been implicated in a number of hematological and immune cell disorders including myeloproliferative neoplasms and inflammatory diseases as well as certain cancers. Positive interim results have been reported from a Phase 1/2 trial of CYT-387 in 166 patients with myelofibrosis. In addition, YM has several preclinical programs underway with candidates from its library of novel compounds identified through internal research conducted at YM BioSciences Australia.
The company was also advancing twould other clinical-stage products: Nimotuzumab, an EGFR-targeting monoclonal antibody; and CYT997, a vascular disrupting agent (VDA).
It is also the first company from any major-market country to enter into a relationship with the Cuban Government for the development of a number of that country's biopharmaceuticals with first licenses concluding in 1995. In 2013 Gilead Sciences completed the acquisition of YM Biosciences for US $510 million.
The principal medicine of interest was a monoclonal antibody – Nimotuzumab – targeting the epidermal growth factor receptor. YM received Orphan Drug Designation from the FDA for Nimotuzumab in 2004; received a number of single-patient IND clearances starting in 2005 (with the first patient treated at Doernbecher Children's Hospital of Oregon Health and Science University for inoperable, recurrent, diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma) subsequent to approval from the Office of Foreign Asset Control in March 2006; that approval was subsequently extended to unlimited clinical use so that, in August 2007 YM received clearance from the FDA to conduct a Phase II trial in the same indication. That trial was conducted at seven leading cancer institutes across United States including: Memorial Sloan-Kettering, M.D. Anderson, Johns Hopkins, University of Florida, Vanderbilt Children's Hospital, Children's Hospital/University of Colorado and NYU Medical Center.
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