Basilea & Roche to jointly study novel treatment for urothelial cancer

The planned study would assess the efficacy, tolerability, and safety of the derazantinib-atezolizumab combination in patients with confirmed FGFR genomic aberrations and advanced urothelial cancer.

Basilea Pharmaceutica Limited, a commercial stage biopharmaceutical company, has reportedly announced a partnership with Roche to discover a combination of Roches PD-L1-blocking immune-checkpoint inhibitor atezolizumab (Tecentriq®) and Basileas derazantinib for people suffering from urothelial cancer.

Chief Medical Officer of Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd, Dr. Marc Engelhardt was reportedly quoted saying that the firm is delighted to collaborate with Roche as the looks forward to explore a unique targeted treatment approach which addresses the high medical need of patients suffering from urothelical cancer. The combination of atezolizumab and derazantinib is based on a sound scientific rationale. Moreover, derazantinib has the capacity to improve the response to atezolizumab's immune-checkpoint inhibition.

For the uninitiated, derazantinib is called a panFGFR kinase inhibitor as it is known to be an investigational orally administered small molecule inhibitor of the FGFR family of kinases with strong activity against FGFR1, 2, and 3.

According to a press release by Basilea Pharmaceutica, the planned study would assess the efficacy, tolerability, and safety of the derazantinib-atezolizumab combination in patients with confirmed FGFR genomic aberrations and advanced urothelial cancer. Roche would provide clinical supply of atezolizumab and Basilea will be sponsoring the study, cite reliable sources.

Reportedly, the combination of inhibiting FGFR while, at the same time, improving T cell-mediated antitumor effects via CSF1R inhibition is potentially a promising new treatment approach in patients suffering from urothelial cancer.

For the record, urothelial cancer is the sixth most common cancer in the United States. These cancers begin in the urothelial cells that line the inside of the bladder. About 80,000 new cases of bladder cancer registered in the nation in the year 2017.

Sources familiar with the development claim that Basilea anticipates to begin a biomarker-driven multi-cohort phase 1/2 study by mid-2019.