TIDMSAR
RNS Number : 9649K
Sareum Holdings PLC
27 September 2016
(AIM: SAR) 27 September 2016
SAREUM HOLDINGS PLC
("Sareum" or "the Company")
Licence agreement for Chk1 Inhibitor CCT245737
Sareum Holdings plc (AIM:SAR), the specialist cancer drug
discovery and development company, is pleased to announce that its
co-investment partner, the CRT Pioneer Fund, has today licensed
exclusive and worldwide rights for the Chk1 inhibitor cancer drug
candidate CCT245737 (to be renamed PNT737) to ProNAi Therapeutics,
Inc. (NASDAQ: DNAI).
Under the terms of the agreement, an immediate upfront payment
of US$7.0 million is due to the co-investment partners and an
additional fee of up to US$2.0 million will be payable upon the
successful transfer of the two ongoing Phase 1 clinical trials to
ProNAi. Additional payments in the aggregate amount of up to
US$319.5 million may become payable upon achievement of certain
development, regulatory and commercial milestones. ProNAi will also
owe high single to low double digit royalties on the net sales of
any product successfully developed.
Under Sareum's agreements with Cancer Research Technology and
the CRT Pioneer Fund, Sareum is entitled to 27.5% of these
payments. Therefore, Sareum will receive (i) US$1.9 million as an
upfront payment, (ii) potential future milestone payments of up to
US$88.4 million, some of which are expected to be paid within the
next twelve months upon certain development milestones being met
and (iii) its share of any sales royalties.
Furthermore, the unspent balance, estimated at cGBP300,000, of
the financial commitment to the trial funding of GBP797,500 made by
Sareum in December 2015 will be returned to the Company.
ProNAi is a well-funded clinical stage drug development company
advancing targeted therapeutics for the treatment of patients with
cancer. The company is comprised of a highly respected management
team with a proven track record of success in oncology drug
development.
PNT737 was originally developed in a research collaboration
between the Institute of Cancer Research, London (ICR), Sareum
Limited and Cancer Research Technology Ltd (CRT). The Programme was
licensed to the CRT Pioneer Fund in September 2013 and a
co-investment partnership with Sareum was formed to progress the
candidate drug through clinical trials.
Dr Tim Mitchell, CEO of Sareum commented, "This is a major
achievement for our lead candidate as well as for Sareum. Starting
with the initial discovery, we have contributed financially and
scientifically to the ongoing development of the programme into
clinical trials. The returns from this research investment will be
realised in this licence agreement, validating our strategy and
business model. ProNAi is in a strong position to further the
development of PNT737 and plans to expand its development into the
United States and with broader clinical studies. We look forward to
reporting on their progress."
"This is another significant milestone on the development path
for this promising Chk1 inhibitor. We recently initiated a Phase 1
single agent monotherapy study and a Phase 1 study of PNT737 in
combination with DNA-targeting chemotherapies. ProNAi has a
world-class oncology development team and is well-capitalized, and
we believe these studies and the ongoing development strategy for
this drug are in excellent hands," added Dr Robert James, Managing
Partner of Sixth Element Capital LLP, managers of the CRT Pioneer
Fund.
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes
of Article 7 of Regulation 596/2014.
For further information, please contact:
Sareum Holdings plc
Tim Mitchell 01223 497 700
WH Ireland Limited (Nominated Adviser and
Co-Broker)
Chris Fielding / Nick Prowting 020 7220 1666
Hybridan LLP (Co-Broker)
Claire Noyce / William Lynne 020 3764 2341/2342
The Communications Portfolio
(Sareum Media enquiries)
Ariane Comstive
Ariane.comstive@communications-portfolio.co.uk 07785 922 354
ProNAi Therapeutics Inc.
James Smith, Vice President,
Corporate Affairs
info@pronai.com +1 604 558 6536
Hume Brophy (for the CRT Pioneer Fund)
Mary Clark, Hollie Vile, Eva
Haas
6EC@humebrophy.com +44 20 7862 6390
Cancer Research UK's Centre for Drug Development
and Cancer Research Technology
Emily Head
emily.head@cancer.org.uk +44 20 3469 6189
Notes for Editors:
Sareum is a drug discovery and development company delivering
targeted small molecule therapeutics, focusing on cancer and
autoimmune disease, for licensing to pharmaceutical and
biotechnology companies at the preclinical or early clinical trials
stage.
Sareum operates an outsourced research model, working with
collaborators (SRI International, the CRT Pioneer Fund and Hebei
Medical University Biomedical Engineering Center) and a world-wide
network of research providers. One of its collaborative programmes
has been advanced into Phase 1 clinical trials and another is
undergoing pre-clinical IND-enabling studies.
SKIL(R) (Sareum Kinase Inhibitor Library) is Sareum's drug
discovery technology platform that has so far produced the
Company's Aurora+FLT3, Aurora+ALK, VEGFR-3, FLT3 & TYK2 kinase
cancer and autoimmune disease research programmes. SKIL(R) can also
generate drug research programmes against other kinase targets.
Checkpoint Kinase 1 (Chk1) and PNT737:
PNT737 is a highly selective, orally available, small molecule
inhibitor of Checkpoint kinase 1 (Chk1).
DNA is continuously subject to damage through a variety of
endogenous and exogenous mechanisms and, in turn, cells have
developed complex processes to resolve this DNA damage. Chk1 is a
central regulator in the DDR network of cellular pathways that
detect and repair DNA damage. Chk1 impacts multiple cell-cycle
checkpoints, temporarily inhibiting the progression of cell
replication and division in order for DNA repair processes to be
undertaken.
Malignant cells tolerate substantially greater levels of DNA
damage than would be acceptable in healthy cells. Cancer cells
survive and replicate, despite accumulating DNA damage due to
replicative stress, via an over-reliance on select components of
the DDR network including Chk1. As such, inhibition of Chk1 by
PNT737 may be synthetically lethal to cancer cells and of potential
benefit in the treatment of certain cancers.
Certain standard chemotherapeutic agents and radiotherapy also
induce DNA damage in order to kill cancer cells. There exists
potential for synergy between these standard therapies and Chk1
inhibitors such as PNT737.
PNT737 was discovered and initially developed by scientists in
the Cancer Research UK Cancer Therapeutics Unit at The Institute of
Cancer Research (ICR) in collaboration with Sareum, with funding
provided by Cancer Research UK, the ICR and Sareum. The program was
licensed by CRT and the ICR to the CRT Pioneer Fund, a specialist
cancer investment fund established by Sixth Element Capital LLP
(6EC), Cancer Research Technology (CRT) and the European Investment
Fund (EIF) and managed by 6EC, in September 2013 and a
co-investment partnership with Sareum was formed to progress the
candidate drug through clinical trials.
About ProNAi Therapeutics
ProNAi Therapeutics is a clinical stage drug development company
advancing targeted therapeutics for the treatment of patients with
cancer. Its lead product candidate is PNT737, targeting Chk1.
ProNAi is also advancing PNT141, a potent, selective and orally
bioavailable small molecule inhibitor of the Cdc7 kinase undergoing
preclinical development. Cdc7 is a key regulator of both DNA
replication and the DDR network, making it a compelling emerging
target for the potential treatment of a broad range of tumor types.
For more information, please visit www.pronai.com.
About the CRT Pioneer Fund
PNT737 is the lead asset in the CRT Pioneer Fund, a specialist
oncology investment fund established in 2012 by Sixth Element
Capital LLP (6EC), CRT, BACIT and the European Investment Fund and
managed by 6EC. The CRT Pioneer Fund is dedicated to investment in
oncology development programs in Europe. The focus for investment
is pre-lead optimization through to early clinical trials in man.
The Fund is dedicated to asset financing projects emanating from
Europe and expects to commit two-thirds of its investment to
projects derived from Cancer Research UK's oncology drug discovery
portfolio with the remainder being invested in projects from
outside Cancer Research UK.
About Cancer Research Technology
Cancer Research Technology (CRT) is a specialist
commercialisation and development company, which aims to develop
new discoveries in cancer research for the benefit of cancer
patients. CRT works closely with leading international cancer
scientists and their institutes to protect intellectual property
arising from their research and to establish links with commercial
partners. CRT facilitates the discovery, development and marketing
of new cancer therapeutics, vaccines, diagnostics and enabling
technologies. CRT is a wholly owned subsidiary of Cancer Research
UK, the world's leading cancer charity dedicated to saving lives
through research. Further information about CRT can be found at
www.cancertechnology.com and about Cancer Research UK at
www.cancerresearchuk.org.
About The Institute of Cancer Research, London
The ICR, London, is one of the world's most influential cancer
research organizations.
Scientists and clinicians at ICR are working every day to make a
real impact on cancer patients' lives. Through its unique
partnership with The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust and
'bench-to-bedside' approach, the ICR is able to create and deliver
results in a way that other institutions cannot. Together the two
organizations are rated in the top four centers for cancer research
and treatment globally.
The ICR's mission is to make the discoveries that defeat cancer.
For more information visit http://www.icr.ac.uk
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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