Onyx Pharmaceuticals and the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center Announce Oncology Innovation Alliance

Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ONXX) and the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center today announced the formation of the Oncology Innovation Alliance (OIA), a public-private partnership focusing on the discovery and development of novel therapies and their potential role in treating various types of hematologic cancers and solid tumors. 

“This collaboration will leverage expertise across UCSF and Onyx to further our collective understanding of cancer and hopefully translate scientific research rapidly from the laboratory to the clinic and, ultimately, to patients,” said Pablo J. Cagnoni, M.D., Executive Vice President, Global Research & Development and Technical Operations at Onyx Pharmaceuticals. “The UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center is a recognized leader in oncology research and patient care, and Onyx is committed to forming strategic alliances that encourage innovation and the advancement of new treatments for patients.”

The alliance aims to transform cancer care by harnessing the expertise in fundamental science and medicine at both UCSF and Onyx to address the full continuum of that care, from prediction and diagnosis to new therapies and post-treatment monitoring, to identify opportunities to improve the patient experience and outcomes.

The partnership will focus on drug discovery and development, and seeks to advance the broader scope of patient care while contributing to the biological understanding of hematologic malignancies and solid tumors, discovering novel drug targets, identifying potential biomarkers to support patient selection and implementing innovative clinical development approaches.

“UCSF and Onyx share a vision of transforming care for patients with cancer, so we can precisely diagnose, treat and possibly even prevent cancer from occurring,” said Jeffrey Bluestone, PhD, Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost at UCSF. “Our goal is to create an umbrella partnership that enables us to work together to better understand the cascade of events within a cell that leads to disease, and find innovative ways to use that knowledge to diagnose and treat patients far more precisely than we can today.” 

A joint steering committee comprised of representatives from Onyx and UCSF will provide oversight of the alliance. The term of the agreement extends for three years. Financial terms of the collaboration were not disclosed.

About Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Based in South San Francisco, California, Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a global biopharmaceutical company engaged in the development and commercialization of innovative therapies for improving the lives of people with cancer. The company is focused on developing novel medicines that target key molecular pathways. For more information about Onyx, visit the company's website at www.onyx.com. Onyx Pharmaceuticals is on Twitter. Sign up to follow our Twitter feed @OnyxPharm.  

About UCSF 

The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is a leading university dedicated to promoting health worldwide through advanced biomedical research, graduate-level education in the life sciences and health professions, and excellence in patient care. For further information, please visit www.ucsf.edu.

The Office of Innovation, Technology and Alliances (ITA) coordinates UCSF’s efforts in forging collaborations that translate cutting-edge UCSF research into therapies and products that directly benefit patients worldwide. The office oversees technology transfer, entrepreneurship and innovative research alliances with commercial, non-profit, and government organizations.  UCSF is among the world’s top recipients of U.S. biotechnology patents and has consistently ranked first in the UC system as measured by annual license income, total patents, and total licenses.  Its commitment to finding innovative ways to bridge the gap between basic research and real-world applications while protecting academic freedom is reflected in the breadth of research partnerships UCSF has with companies in pharmaceuticals, biotech, high tech and other innovative industries.  

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains “forward-looking statements” of Onyx within the meaning of the federal securities laws. These forward-looking statements include without limitation, statements regarding the progress and results of the clinical development, safety, regulatory processes, commercialization efforts or commercial potential of Kyprolis (carfilzomib) or oprozomib. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and events to differ materially from those anticipated, including risks related to the development and commercialization of pharmaceutical products. Any statements contained in this press release that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Reference should be made to Onyx’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended March 31, 2013, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission under the heading “Risk Factors” for a more detailed description of such factors. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements that speak only as of the date of this release. Onyx undertakes no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements to reflect new information, events, or circumstances after the date of this release except as required by law.