Eisai and Halozyme Therapeutics signed a clinical collaboration agreement to evaluate eribulin in combination with Halozyme’s investigational PEGPH20 (PEGylated recombinant human hyaluronidase) in first line HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer. Under the agreement, the companies will jointly conduct and share the costs of a Phase 1b/II clinical study seeking to determine whether the combination therapy of eribulin and PEGPH20 can improve overall response rate (the proportion of women that have a predefined reduction in tumour burden), in advanced breast cancer patients with high levels of hyaluronan.
PEGPH20 is an investigational drug administered intravenously that targets the degradation of hyaluronan. PEGPH20 increases blood flow to the tumour which may allow cancer therapies to be more efficiently delivered to their target. The collaborative study will seek to determine whether the combination therapy of eribulin and PEGPH20 can improve overall response rate in patients with high levels of hyaluronan.