Sareum Holdings PLC Sareum regains rights to Aurora+FLT3 inhibitors (7277P)
May 31 2018 - 1:00AM
UK Regulatory
TIDMSAR
RNS Number : 7277P
Sareum Holdings PLC
31 May 2018
(AIM: SAR) 31 May 2018
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes
of Article 7 of Regulation 596/2014
SAREUM HOLDINGS PLC
("Sareum" or "the Company")
Sareum regains worldwide rights to small molecule Aurora+FLT3
inhibitors in preclinical development targeting haematological
cancers
Sareum Holdings plc (AIM: SAR), the specialist cancer drug
discovery and development business, announced that it has regained
worldwide rights to preclinical-stage small molecule inhibitors of
Aurora and FLT3 kinases that have shown potential in acute myeloid
leukaemia (AML) and other haematological cancers. The rights have
been returned by Hebei Medical University Biomedical Engineering
Center (HMUBEC), a pharmaceutical research and development group
based in China that has been conducting preclinical development
activities.
Aurora+FLT3 kinase inhibitors target two mechanisms that are
considered important in the progression of certain cancer types:
Aurora kinase is involved in the control of tumour cell mitosis
(cell division), and FLT3 kinase over-activation is the most common
mutation in AML. The preclinical development candidate to which
Sareum regains rights has showed particular promise against a range
of haematological cancer models including AML and Acute
Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL) with good tolerance of the candidate
drug at the predicted therapeutic dose, and no significant side
effects being seen.
As part of the reversion package, Sareum will receive all
preclinical data generated by HMUBEC and full control over the
future preclinical development programme for both intravenous (IV)
and oral formulations of candidates. HMUBEC will retain a low-mid
single digit percentage of net revenues that Sareum may receive
from any future licence agreement or sales of Aurora+FLT3
inhibitors. In regaining the worldwide rights, there is no
immediate or material financial impact to Sareum. The company will
review the full preclinical data package over the coming months and
consider the best way forward with these assets.
The termination of the 2013 agreement with HMUBEC is a result of
several factors, including ongoing issues relating to the
intravenous (IV) formulation, which are preventing higher doses
from being explored to establish maximum-tolerated dose, thereby
delaying the completion of toxicity studies, coupled with
organisational changes at HMUBEC.
Sareum has been funding formulation specialists in the UK to try
and resolve the IV formulation issue to enable preclinical studies
to complete. In parallel, Sareum is beginning to explore the
potential of orally available formulations of the lead Aurora+FLT3
inhibitor candidate.
Dr Tim Mitchell, CEO of Sareum, commented: "The work done to
date by HMUBEC has provided encouraging insights to the potential
of the lead Aurora+FLT3 inhibitor candidate in AML and other
haematological cancers. We are pleased to regain the worldwide
rights to these inhibitors, particularly as recent industry
activity suggests a resurgence of interest in Aurora kinase as a
target for cancer drugs. In taking back full control, we now have
the flexibility to further address the IV formulation issues and
fully explore oral routes of administration including the use of
novel delivery technologies that have emerged in recent years. We
will provide a further update on our plans with these molecules
once we have completed a review of the data and our options."
For further information, please contact:
Sareum Holdings plc
Tim Mitchell 01223 497 700
WH Ireland Limited (Nominated Adviser and
Co-Broker)
Chris Fielding / James Sinclair-Ford 020 7220 1666
Hybridan LLP (Co-Broker)
Claire Noyce 020 3764 2341
Citigate Dewe Rogerson (Media
enquiries)
Shabnam Bashir/ Mark Swallow/
David Dible 020 7282 9571
Notes for editors:
Sareum is a specialist drug discovery and development company
delivering targeted small molecule therapeutics, focusing on cancer
and autoimmune disease, and generating value through licensing them
to international pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies at the
preclinical or early clinical trials stage.
Its most advanced programme, SRA737, is a novel Checkpoint
kinase 1 (Chk1) inhibitor licensed to NASDAQ-listed Sierra Oncology
and in clinical trials targeting a range of advanced cancers. The
key role of Chk1 in cancer cell replication and DNA damage repair
suggests that SRA737 may have broad application as a targeted
therapy in combination with other oncology and immune-oncology
drugs in genetically defined patients.
Sareum is also advancing programmes to develop novel tyrosine
kinase 2 (TYK2) inhibitors in autoimmune diseases and cancers, and
Aurora+FLT3 inhibitors in haematological cancers, which are in the
IND-enabling preclinical and lead optimisation stages.
The Company's drug discovery technology platform (SKIL(R) -
Sareum Kinase Inhibitor Library) is being applied to 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 ticker SAR. For further
information, please visit www.sareum.co.uk
- Ends -
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END
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