U.S. Firm Licenses Cuban Drug Candidates

Though U.S. government policy is to discourage trade with Cuba, a California biotechnology company, CancerVax, has received approval from the Department of Treasury's Office of Foreign Asset Control to license three cancer drugs from CIMAB, the commercialization arm of Cuba's Center of Molecular Immunology in Havana. CancerVax will pay approximately $6 million in access and technology payments over the next three years for the three drug candidates, which target the epidermal growth factor receptor signaling pathway for treatment of cancers such as non-small-cell lung, breast, bladder, pancreatic, and other cancers. If approved for commercialization, CancerVax will pay up to an additional $35 million. A condition of government approval was that the $6 million in technology payment be made in U.S.-origin food, medicines, or medical supplies. After commercialization, half the payments may be made in cash.