Daiichi Sankyo collaborative product receives designation

Daiichi Sankyo Co. announced last week that its oncolytic virus (G47) has received designation under the SAKIGATE Designation System for medical equipment, in vitro diagnostic pharmaceuticals and regenerative medicinal products.

Daiichi Sankyo and Dr. Tomoki Todo, a professor at the Institute of Medical Science at the University of Tokyo, made a joint application to get the designation.

G47 is a replication-conditional herpes simplex virus type 1 that has been thrice-mutated. It is designed to only replicate itself inside of cancer cells.

The drug has done well in its second-phase clinical trial, which was started by Dr.  Todo in 2015. The goal of the trial was to have G47 target glioblastoma. Studies, both clinical and non-clinical, for other cancers are currently being conducted. The current data obtained from the clinical trial and the studies suggest that G47 could be expanded into research with other types of cancer.

Daiichi Sanko and Dr. Todo have announced their intentions to continue the development of G47 and its use in oncolytic virus therapy. Daiichi Sankyo is committed to the development of new drugs that will give the health care field new treatment options.