Tocris to supply gefitinib to cancer researchers
This article was originally published in Scrip
Executive Summary
Tocris Bioscience, a UK-based pharmaceutical supplier, has signed an exclusive deal with AstraZenecato supply the lung cancer drug gefitinib (also marketed as Iressa and Geffy) to preclinical researchers exploring cancer mechanisms. This will enable scientists to buy the fully licensed, non-formulated drug as an off-the-shelf product for use in biological research. Gefitinib has been licensed to Tocris for use as a preclinical research compound only and AstraZeneca has imposed conditions to ensure that it is not used in human studies. Last month gefitinib showed a benefit in progression-free survival over carboplatin plus paclitaxel in the first line treatment of selected non-small cell lung cancer patients (ScripOnline, August 8th, 2008).