Cell Signaling Technology Grants a Patent License to Pfizer

Cell Signaling Technology, Inc. today announced that it has entered into an agreement with Pfizer Inc. PFE that provides Pfizer with a worldwide non-exclusive license under the patent estates pooled by CST and Astellas Pharma, Inc. relating to EML4 anaplastic lymphoma kinase. The fusion kinase EML4-ALK has been found to be present in a subset of patients with non-small cell lung cancer. Pfizer and Abbott ABT entered into a separate agreement in 2009 to develop and commercialize a diagnostic test designed to screen NSCLC tumors for the presence of rearrangements in the ALK gene. Pfizer will grant a sublicense to Abbott under the Patent Estates for Abbott to commercialize diagnostic products based on fluorescence in situ hybridization technology for ALK detection. Detection of ALK-positive NSCLC is necessary for selection of patients for treatment with Pfizer's crizotinib, an investigational oral first-in-class agent that inhibits ALK.