Kosan says KOS-953 could be first in class to reach market

By Jennifer Lanning Drey

Eugene, Ore., Sept. 18 - Kosan Biosciences, Inc. said it believes KOS-953, its first-generation Hsp90 inhibitor compound, is likely to the be the first drug in its class to reach the market, Robert Johnson, chief executive officer of Kosan, said Monday at the Leerink Swann & Co. cancer roundtable.

"We have a very stable, ready-to-go-today, commercially viable formulation," Johnson told investors.

Kosan plans to start a phase 2/3 registration program for KOS-953, which it has named tanespimycin, toward the end of the year, he said.

The program will consist of two trials, both with multiple myeloma as the leading indication. The first trial will study tanespimycin in combination with Velcade in first relapse patients. The second will study the drug in combination with Velcade in refractory disease patients.

If study data are positive, the company believes it could file a New Drug Application for tanespimycin in 2009, Johnson said.

"This gives us a near-term entrance in a Velcade market that we believe will be over $1 billion by that particular time," he said.

Tanespimycin has been awarded orphan-drug status in the United States and Europe and is the most advanced Hsp90 inhibitor in clinical trials, according to the company.

Kosan is also studying a second-generation Hsp90 inhibitor, KOS-1022, or alvesipmycin, in patients with breast cancer as a first indication, Johnson said.

In previous studies, the drug has shown enhanced potency and ease of formulation with potentially more favorable dosing for solid tumors, according to the company.

Johnson also said Monday that Kosan is aware that there is likely to be eventual competition in the market for Hsp90 inhibitors but that no other company is as far along in studying the inhibitors.

"There are other players who are entering the field behind Kosan. Most of those are very early stage, and there's been little clinical data and pubic data. So far, there's been no demonstrated advantages," he said.

Kosan is a Hayward, Calif. biotechnology company.

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