Onyx files suit against Bayer over cancer-fighting compound

EMERYVILLE, Calif. A U.S. drug maker has accused Bayer of violating a collaborative agreement between the two companies in a suit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

Onyx Pharmaceuticals said Sunday that it seeks a declaration by Bayer that fluoro-sorafenib, a cancer-fighting compound, is a jointly-owned compound because the two companies discovered it during joint research. The two companies identified the compound in 1998. The compound is a variant of the drug Nexavar (sorafenib) that replaces Nexavar’s hydrogen atom with a fluorine atom. The drug is mostly used to treat cancers of the liver and kidneys.

“Onyx and Bayer have had a long-standing and successful collaboration for more than 15 years,” Onyx VP and legal counsel Greg Giotta said. “Against that background, we are disappointed that we could not resolve this matter and believe this complaint is necessary to protect our rights and the rights of our shareholders under the collaboration agreement.”

Onyx said that it continues to work with Bayer in the development and commercialization of Nexavar. The two companies had announced Friday that they would present more than 60 studies evaluating the use of Nexavar in treating thyroid, lung and gastric cancer and leukemia at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.