Pfizer's chances to get MediGene drug grow-sources

FRANKFURT May 11 (Reuters) - The chances for Pfizer (PFE.N: Cotización) to win a licensing deal for MediGene's MDGGn.DE promising cancer drug EndoTAG-1 have improved after the German biotech company appointed a new chief executive, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters on Monday.

Last month MediGene's chief executive Peter Heinrich stepped down in a surprise move. MediGene, which at the time did not comment on the reasons for the resignation, named executive board member Frank Mathias as Heinrich's successor.

Mathias is amenable to selling the global rights to EndoTAG-1 and does not insist on retaining the European rights, the sources said, adding that this approach looks set to accommodate Pfizer's plans for EndoTAG-1.

MediGene has also been in talks with U.S. drug majors Merck & Co (MRK.N: Cotización) and Eli Lilly (LLY.N: Cotización).

A spokesman for MediGene declined to comment, saying only that the German company was negotiating with both large and medium-sized companies.

The company had opened talks on EndoTAG-l in November, shortly after the drug had shown promise as a pancreatic cancer treatment in a Phase II clinical study.

EndoTAG-1 consists of conventional chemotherapeutic agents encapsulated by fat molecules. These globules cling on to tumour-feeding blood vessels and destroy them, cutting off vital oxygen and nutrient supplies to cancer cells.

MediGene, which expects peak annual sales of the drug to surpass 1 billion euros ($1.29 billion), is preparing to test EndoTAG-1 against pancreatic cancer in the third and last trial phase normally required for regulatory approval.

The bulk of the drug's futures sales, however, should come from its potential use against breast cancer, according to MediGene. (Reporting by Frank Siebelt, Patricia Uhlig; Writing by Ludwig Burger; Editing by Greg Mahlich)