Onyx Pharmaceuticals Inc. is a biopharmaceutical

Biopharmaceutical

Biopharmaceuticals are medical drugs produced using biotechnology. They include proteins , nucleic acids and living microorganisms like virus and bacteria where the virulence of viruses and bacteria is reduced by the process of attenuation, they can be used for therapeutic or in vivo diagnostic...

 company headquartered in South San Francisco, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

. The company develops and markets medicines for the treatment of cancer. Onyx was founded in 1992 by Frank McCormick Ph.D., FRS. In 2009, the company acquired Proteolix, Inc.

Proteolix, Inc.

Proteolix, Inc., was a private biotechnology company with headquarters in South San Francisco, California. Proteolix focused primarily on the proteasome as a therapeutic target. Its lead product candidate, carfilzomib , is a tetrapeptide epoxyketone...

, a private biotechnology company.

Products and development

Sorafenib

Sorafenib

Sorafenib , is a drug approved for the treatment of primary kidney cancer and advanced primary liver cancer ....

 (co-developed and co-marketed by Bayer

Bayer

Bayer AG is a chemical and pharmaceutical company founded in Barmen , Germany in 1863. It is headquartered in Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany and well known for its original brand of aspirin.-History:...

 and Onyx as Nexavar), is a drug approved for the treatment of advanced renal cell carcinoma

Renal cell carcinoma

Renal cell carcinoma is a kidney cancer that originates in the lining of the proximal convoluted tubule, the very small tubes in the kidney that filter the blood and remove waste products. RCC is the most common type of kidney cancer in adults, responsible for approximately 80% of cases...

, or advanced kidney cancer, and for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma is the most common type of liver cancer. Most cases of HCC are secondary to either a viral hepatitide infection or cirrhosis .Compared to other cancers, HCC is quite a rare tumor in the United States...

, the most common form of liver cancer. Sorafenib is also being evaluated in additional types of cancer, including lung

Lung cancer

Lung cancer is a disease characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. If left untreated, this growth can spread beyond the lung in a process called metastasis into nearby tissue and, eventually, into other parts of the body. Most cancers that start in lung, known as primary...

, thyroid

Thyroid cancer

Thyroid neoplasm is a neoplasm or tumor of the thyroid. It can be a benign tumor such as thyroid adenoma, or it can be a malignant neoplasm , such as papillary, follicular, medullary or anaplastic thyroid cancer. Most patients are 25 to 65 years of age when first diagnosed; women are more affected...

 and breast cancer

Breast cancer

Breast cancer is cancer originating from breast tissue, most commonly from the inner lining of milk ducts or the lobules that supply the ducts with milk. Cancers originating from ducts are known as ductal carcinomas; those originating from lobules are known as lobular carcinomas...

s.

As of September 2011, Onyx is conducting clinical trials investigating carfilzomib

Carfilzomib

Carfilzomib is a tetrapeptide epoxyketone and a selective proteasome inhibitor. It is an analog of epoxomicin.-Discovery and Early Development:...

, a selective proteasome inhibitor

Proteasome inhibitor

Proteasome inhibitors are drugs that block the action of proteasomes, cellular complexes that break down proteins, like the p53 protein. Proteasome inhibitors are being studied in the treatment of cancer.-Examples:...

 that is being studied as a treatment for multiple myeloma

Multiple myeloma

Multiple myeloma , also known as plasma cell myeloma or Kahler's disease , is a cancer of plasma cells, a type of white blood cell normally responsible for the production of antibodies...

. Clinical trials for carfilzomib include a pivotal Phase 2 clinical trial designed to seek accelerated approval in the U.S. In January 2011, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration

Food and Drug Administration

The Food and Drug Administration is an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, one of the United States federal executive departments...

 (FDA) granted carfilzomib fast-track status

FDA Fast Track Development Program

The FDA Fast Track Development Program is a designation of the United States Food and Drug Administration that accelerates the approval of investigational new drugs undergoing clinical trials with the goal review time of 60 days...

, allowing Onyx to initiate a rolling submission of its new drug application

New drug application

The New Drug Application is the vehicle in the United States through which drug sponsors formally propose that the Food and Drug Administration approve a new pharmaceutical for sale and marketing...

 for carfilzomib .

Onyx executive leadership team

• N. Anthony (Tony) Coles, M.D.: President, Chief Executive Officer and Member of the Board
• Laura A. Brege: Executive Vice President, Corporate Affairs
• Matthew K. Fust: Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
• Juergen Lasowski, PH.D.: Executive Vice President, Corporate Development and Strategy
• Ted W. Love, M.D.: Executive Vice President, Research & Development and Technical Operations
• Helen I. Torley, M.B., CH.B., M.R.C.P.: Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer
• Kaye Foster-Cheek: Senior Vice President, Global Human Resources
• Suzanne M. Shema, J.D.: Senior Vice President, General Counsel
• Julianna Wood: Vice President, Public Affairs

Onyx Board of Directors

• N. Anthony (Tony) Coles, M.D.: President, Chief Executive Officer and Member of the Board
• Paul Goddard PH.D.: Lead Director, Chairman and CEO Aryx Therapeutics Inc., Chairman, AP Pharma and Director, Adolor Corporation
  Adolor Corporation
  Adolor Corporation is a biopharmaceutical company specializing in the discovery, development and commercialization of prescription pain management products....
  
  
• Antonio J. Grillo-López, M.D.: Former Chairman, Neoplastic and Autoimmune Diseases Research Institute
• Magnus Lundberg: Chief Executive Officer, Phadia
  Phadia
  Phadia develops, manufactures and markets blood test systems to support the clinical diagnosis and monitoring of allergy, asthma and autoimmune diseases. The company is headquartered in Uppsala, Sweden...
  
  
• Corinne H. Nevinny: General Partner, LMNVC LLC
• Bill Ringo: Executive Director, Sofinnova Ventures and Senior Advisor, Barclays Capital
  Barclays Capital
  Barclays Capital is a global British investment bank. It is the investment banking division of Barclays plc which has a balance sheet of over £1.2 trillion . Barclays Capital provides financing and risk management services to large companies, institutions and government clients. It is a primary...
  
  
• Wendell Wierenga, PH.D: Executive Vice President, Research and Development, Santarus, Inc.
• Thomas G. Wiggans: Former Chairman and CEO, Peplin, Inc., and Connetics Corporation