OBI Pharma, a Taiwan company, acquired rights to a preclinical cancer drug candidate from Threshold Pharma of South San Francisco for an undisclosed, one-time upfront payment. TH-3424, now renamed OBI-3424, is a first-in-class small-molecule prodrug. It is designed to release a DNA alkylating agent only in cancers that over-express the activating enzyme aldo-keto reductase 1C3 (AKR1C3). OBI intends to develop the drug initially in the US. The agreement does not include Japan, China, Taiwan or certain other countries.
