BMS and Calithera Biosciences expend collaboration to test its cancer drugs

Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) and Calithera Biosciences have expanded their existing collaboration to evaluate BMS’s Opdivo in combination with Calithera’s CB-839 in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and melanoma.

Calithera Biosciences is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on discovering and developing novel small molecule drugs directed against tumor metabolism and tumor immunology targets for the treatment of cancer. Its CB-839 is  an investigational orally administered glutaminase inhibitor currently in Phase 1/2 clinical studies.

BMS said in a press release issued on Wednesday that preclinical data suggest that CB-839, which is designed to target a pathway to starve tumor cells of the key nutrient glutamine, may enhance the effects of checkpoint inhibitors and may also reverse tumor resistance to checkpoint inhibitors by altering the immune-suppressive microenvironment and promoting an anti-tumor immune response. Opdivo is designed to overcome immune suppression. The companies will evaluate the potential clinical value of combining these two agents to treat NSCLC and melanoma.