TIDMSAR
RNS Number : 6485T
Sareum Holdings PLC
09 January 2017
(AIM: SAR) 9 January 2016
SAREUM HOLDINGS PLC
("Sareum" or "the Company")
Milestone Payment from Chk1 Licence Agreement
Sareum Holdings plc (AIM:SAR), the specialist cancer drug
discovery and development company, is pleased to announce the
attainment of a US$2.0 million success milestone payment as part of
the Chk1 licence agreement between its co-investment partner, the
CRT Pioneer Fund, and Sierra Oncology, Inc. (NASDAQ: SRRA),
formerly, until today, ProNAi Therapeutics, Inc.
Under the terms of the agreement, first announced on 27
September 2016, the fee has become payable as a result of the
successful transfer of the two ongoing Phase 1 clinical trials to
Sierra Oncology. Further payments in the aggregate amount of up to
US$319.5 million may additionally become payable upon achievement
of certain development, regulatory and commercial milestones.
Sierra Oncology will also pay 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 all payments
arising from the Chk1 licence agreeement. Therefore, Sareum will
receive $550,000 as its financial share of this milestone
event.
Furthermore, the unspent balance, now estimated at cGBP200,000,
of the financial commitment to the trial funding of GBP797,500 made
by Sareum in December 2015 will be returned to the Company in due
course.
Dr Tim Mitchell, CEO of Sareum commented, "We are delighted that
the first milestone event from this agreement has been reached.
This is a useful addition to our cash position, following the
receipt of GBP1.5 million as our share of the $7 million up-front
payment announced in September."
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
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
international collaborators and a world-wide network of research
providers. Its most advanced programme (Chk1) commenced clinical
trials in May 2016 and was licensed to NASDAQ-listed Sierra
Oncology (previously ProNAi Therapeutics) in September 2016.
SKIL(R) (Sareum Kinase Inhibitor Library) is Sareum's drug
discovery technology platform that has so far produced the
Company's Aurora+FLT3 and TYK2 kinase cancer and autoimmune disease
research programmes, which are in the IND-enabling preclinical and
lead optimisation stages respectively. SKIL(R) can also generate
drug research programmes against other kinase targets.
Sareum Holdings plc is listed on the AIM market of the London
Stock Exchange, trading under the symbol SAR. For further
information, please visit www.sareum.co.uk
Checkpoint Kinase 1 (Chk1) and SRA737 (formerly PNT737 and
CCT245737):
SRA737 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 DNA Damage Repair ("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
SRA737 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 SRA737.
SRA737737 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 Sierra Oncology
Sierra Oncology is a clinical stage drug development company
advancing next generation DDR therapeutics for the treatment of
patients with cancer. Its lead drug candidate, SRA737, is a highly
selective, orally bioavailable small molecule inhibitor of
Checkpoint kinase 1 (Chk1), a key cell cycle checkpoint and central
regulator of the DNA Damage Response (DDR) network. In cancer
cells, replication stress induced by oncogenes (e.g., MYC and RAS)
combined with loss of function in tumor suppressors (e.g., p53 and
ATM) results in persistent DNA damage and genomic instability.
Targeted inhibition of the remaining components of the DDR network
such as by SRA737 may be synthetically lethal to cancer cells and
have utility as a monotherapy in a range of tumor indications. Chk1
is also believed to facilitate tumor cell resistance to
chemotherapy or radiation-induced DNA damage and the combination of
SRA737 with these standards-of-care may provide synergistic
anti-tumor activity. SRA737 is currently being investigated in two
Phase 1 clinical trials in patients with advanced cancer.
Sierra Oncology is also advancing SRA141, 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.
Sierra Oncology retains the global commercialization rights to
both SRA737 and SRA141. For more information, please visit
www.sierraoncology.com.
About the CRT Pioneer Fund
SRA737 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.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
MSCLIFIALIIAIID
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 09, 2017 07:05 ET (12:05 GMT)
Sareum (LSE:SAR)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2024 to May 2024
Sareum (LSE:SAR)
Historical Stock Chart
From May 2023 to May 2024