Xcovery, a developer of targeted therapeutics for cancer, has announced its participation in the NCI Formulary, a public-private partnership between the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the NIH, and pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to expedite the use of agents in clinical trials. The partnership, which launched last week with fifteen targeted agents from six pharmaceutical companies, will seek to alleviate the lengthy process to develop new therapies for patients, and respond to the call for greater collaboration within the industry made by Vice President Biden’s Cancer Moonshot Initiative.

“Collaboration among pharmaceutical companies with the NCI and the NIH will speed up the development of novel therapies and benefits for patients down the line,” said Lieming Ding, M.D., Chairman of Xcovery. “Xcovery has focused on developing drugs with reduced toxicity, which allows for combination therapies. We’re excited to join the NCI Formulary by providing our ALK inhibitor, ensartinib, to the broad research community for additional development opportunities, particularly in combination therapy programs.”

Research indicates that combination therapies, which include drugs with different mechanisms of action impacting cancer cells in multiple ways, provide an improved clinical benefit and can decrease the risk of relapse. The establishment of the NCI Formulary will enable the NCI to facilitate and streamline the arrangements for access to and use of pharmaceutical agents from multiple organizations, allowing for further research on various therapeutic opportunities. Following Xcovery’s approval, investigators will be able to obtain and test ensartinib in new preclinical or clinical studies, including combination studies with formulary agents from different companies.