Teva, biotech firm partner to make cancer drugs work

JERUSALEM, June 30 (Reuters) - Israel's Optimata Ltd said on Tuesday it had signed an agreement with Teva Pharmaceutical Industries (TEVA.O) (TEVA.TA) to develop drug candidates for solid tumour cancers.

Optimata's bio-simulation technology allows Teva, the world's largest generic drug maker, to "fix" drugs that failed advanced clinical development tests by monitoring changes in dosing and timing.

Teva will pay for the rights to drugs that have been shelved by companies after they failed to pass advanced clinical tests, Optimata said. It added that Teva had also made an undisclosed investment in Optimata.

Rescuing candidate cancer drugs offers Teva a shortcut to the cancer drug market, where it hopes to expand.

Optimata's Virtual Patient technology monitors the interaction of drugs in patients and enables drug developers to perform clinical trials and to forecast optimal treatments. (Reporting by Joseph Nasr; Editing by Jon Loades-Carter)