MD Anderson and Summit Therapeutics announce strategic collaboration to accelerate development of ivonescimab

HOUSTON and MIAMI ― The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and Summit Therapeutics, Inc. today announced a strategic five-year collaboration agreement for the purpose of accelerating the development of ivonescimab.

Leveraging MD Anderson’s clinical infrastructure and research expertise together with Summit’s innovative, investigational, potential first-in-class PD-1/VEGF bispecific antibody, the collaboration is designed to quickly discover additional opportunities for ivonescimab, including several tumors outside of its current development plan. MD Anderson will lead multiple clinical trials in several tumor types to evaluate the safety and potential clinical benefit of ivonescimab, including the possibility of identifying biomarkers through additional research activities.

“We are excited to collaborate with MD Anderson to provide unique insights and expertise to further broaden the development of ivonescimab,” said Allen S. Yang, M.D., Ph.D., chief medical officer of Summit. “This collaboration will help accelerate the growing clinical development efforts for ivonescimab and help bring this innovative advancement on immunotherapy and anti-angiogenic standards to as many patients who may benefit as possible.”

Early work may include certain types of renal cell carcinoma, colorectal cancer, skin cancer, breast cancer and glioblastoma, which has the potential to rapidly expand the breadth and depth of the ivonescimab development program. The bispecific antibody has shown significant promise in recent read-outs from the randomized Phase III non-small cell lung cancer clinical trials, HARMONi-A and HARMONi-2, conducted by Summit’s partner, Akeso, in addition to promising Phase II data in other solid tumors.

“Through our extensive clinical research efforts, we are committed to bringing impactful new medicines to patients in need as rapidly as possible,” said Christopher Flowers, M.D., division head of Cancer Medicine at MD Anderson. “We are pleased to be collaborating with Summit to broaden the clinical development efforts of ivonescimab and its unique mechanism of action to support our mutual goal to improve the therapeutic options for patients with cancer.”

MD Anderson and Summit will collaborate on the design and conduct of preclinical and clinical studies, with oversight from a joint steering committee. This research is expected to begin later this year.

Read this press release in the MD Anderson Newsroom.

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About Summit

Summit Therapeutics Inc. is a biopharmaceutical oncology company focused on the discovery, development, and commercialization of patient-, physician-, caregiver- and societal-friendly medicinal therapies intended to improve quality of life, increase potential duration of life, and resolve serious unmet medical needs. Summit was founded in 2003 and our shares are listed on the Nasdaq Global Market (symbol “SMMT”). We are headquartered in Miami, Florida, and we have additional offices in Menlo Park, California, and Oxford, UK.  For more information, please visit and follow us on X @SMMT_TX.

About MD Anderson
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston ranks as one of the world’s most respected centers focused on cancer patient care, research, education and prevention. The institution’s sole mission is to end cancer for patients and their families around the world, and, in 1971, it became one of the nation’s first National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated comprehensive cancer centers. MD Anderson is No. 1 for cancer in U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Hospitals” rankings and has been named one of the nation’s top two hospitals for cancer since the rankings began in 1990. MD Anderson receives a cancer center support grant from the NCI of the National Institutes of Health (P30 CA016672).