Gefitinib Exclusive Deal

Tocris Bioscience (Bristol, UK) announced today the signing of an exclusive deal with AstraZeneca to supply Gefitinib (also known as Iressa™ and ZD1839) to preclinical researchers working on the mechanisms underlying cancer development. For the first time, scientists will be able to buy authentic, fully licenced, non-formulated Gefitinib as an off-the shelf product for use in biological research.

In recent years pharmaceutical companies have developed a number of small molecule drugs that are clinically effective against certain types of cancer. Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) such as Gefitinib are at the forefront of this new generation of targeted anticancer agents.

Gefitinib is an EGFR-TKI (epidermal growth factor tyrosine kinase inhibitor), which targets and blocks the activity of the EGFR-TK, an enzyme that regulates intracellular signaling pathways implicated in cancer cell proliferation and survival. Growth factor signaling has been identified as a key driver of tumour growth and spread in a wide range of cancers. For clinical use, Gefitinib has been approved for the treatment of advanced Non Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) in 36 countries.

This molecule has been licenced to Tocris for use as a preclinical research compound only. Strict conditions have been imposed by AstraZeneca to ensure that it is not used in human studies.

Duncan Crawford, Tocris' Chief Scientific Officer, said, "We know that there is a great deal of interest in Gefitinib from the global research community. By making fully licenced Gefitinib available through our catalog, we hope to promote new and exciting research in the fundamental processes that drive cancer development. For Tocris this important new product perfectly complements our comprehensive and expanding range of high purity compounds, which are in use worldwide to further biomedical research. We are delighted that our excellent relationship with AstraZeneca has allowed us to make this compound available to scientists working on the fundamental mechanisms of cancer cell biology"

View full product information on Gefitinib.