Amgen to Collaborate on Development of Lung Cancer Drug

Amgen Inc. on Monday announced it will collaborate with Guardant Health Inc. and Qiagen N.V. to further its research on AMG 510, a pipeline drug designed to treat metastatic lung cancer. According to an agreement between the companies, Redwood City-based Guardant, a blood test developer, will pursue U.S. Food and Drug Administration pre-market approval, as well as approvals in the Japanese and European markets, for its Guardant360 CDx test. Qiagen, a Netherlands-based diagnostic company specializing in tissue sample testing, will work with Amgen to develop tissue-based diagnostic tests. Amgen will use tests from Guardant and Qiagen to identify patients eligible for AMG 510. AMG 510 is the first-in-class KRAS G12C inhibitor to advance in clinical studies, the Thousand Oaks biotech said. The drug is designed to target a cancer-causing mutation called G12C in the protein KRAS. Patients with cancer linked to the mutation have historically had limited treatment options, the company said. “The potential of AMG 510 to specifically target KRAS G12C, a mutation that was once thought to be undruggable, represents a major therapeutic advancement in advanced non-small cell lung cancer,” Sanket Agrawal, general manager of the KRAS program at Amgen, said in a statement. “Collaborating with Guardant Health to develop their Guardant360 blood test as a companion diagnostic will help ensure that all eligible non-small cell lung cancer patients receive biomarker testing.” Shares of Amgen (AMGN) closed Monday down $1.34, or a fraction of a percent, to $236.92 on the Nasdaq.