Burn free discovery

Oncology company GPC Biotech AG has expanded over the years via asset accumulation. This month's addition of key assets from bankrupt kinase play Axxima Pharmaceuticals AG is in line with that strategy.

Founded in 1997 as a functional genomics company, GPC (FSE:GPC; GPCB, Martinsried, Germany) added a drug discovery platform and a research program focused on cyclin-dependent kinase (Cdk) inhibitors via the acquisition of Mitotix Inc. in 2000. A year later, it added a clinical development team, after which it in-licensed a Phase III cancer compound, satraplatin, from NeoTherapeutics Inc., now Spectrum Pharmaceuticals Inc. (SPPI, Irvine, Calif.) (see BioCentury, Sept. 6, 2004). ...