Pharmaceutical Industry discussion, review, analysis, news and information.

Cytokinetics, Incorporated (Nasdaq: CYTK) has amended its collaboration and license agreement with GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE:GSK) where Cytokinetics will assume responsibility for the costs and activities of continued development of the kinesin spindle protein (KSP) inhibitors ispinesib (SB-715992) and SB-743921, subject to GSK's option to resume responsibility for some or all development and commercialization activities associated with each of these novel drug candidates.

The revised terms include the following:

• Cytokinetics plans to conduct a focused development program for ispinesib specifically designed to supplement the broad series of Phase I and Phase II clinical trials sponsored by GSK that have demonstrated clinical activity in the treatment of patients with metastatic breast and lung cancers and that have shown an acceptable tolerability profile for ispinesib in combination with standard chemotherapeutics.

• Cytokinetics is considering plans to conduct a focused clinical trials program in breast cancer patients in 2007. This program would be designed to further define the clinical activity profile of ispinesib in advanced breast cancer in preparation for potentially initiating a Phase III clinical trial of ispinesib for the second-line treatment of advanced breast cancer.

Find more details of the revised collaboration agreement from the Cytokinetics press release.

[Photo Credit: BBC]