Evgen Pharma PLC Collaboration with King's College London (1563Z)
December 13 2017 - 2:00AM
UK Regulatory
TIDMEVG
RNS Number : 1563Z
Evgen Pharma PLC
13 December 2017
For immediate release 13 December 2017
Evgen Pharma plc
("Evgen Pharma" or "the Company")
Collaboration with King's College in Ischaemic Stroke
Evgen Pharma (AIM: EVG), a clinical stage drug development
company focused on the treatment of cancer and neurological
conditions, is pleased to announce a collaboration with King's
College London ("King's") to advance SFX-01, the Company's lead
product candidate, towards the clinic as a therapy for ischaemic
stroke.
In a programme of work funded by the British Heart Foundation
("BHF"), scientists at King's have previously shown the potential
of sulforaphane - the active principle in SFX-01 - to minimise
brain injury and subsequent motor deficits in highly reproducible
models of ischaemic stroke.
The initial aim of the collaboration is to test SFX-01 at
various doses in the aforementioned models with a view to building
a clinical-trial enabling data package. This part of the work
programme is being seed-funded by Evgen Pharma and will take
approximately nine months to complete.
If the data looks promising, Evgen Pharma will provide
quantities of SFX-01 to support a potential grant-funded clinical
trial to be led by King's. Under the terms of the collaboration
agreement, the Company will have first refusal to an exclusive
licence to all data and new intellectual property from such a trial
on fair commercial terms to be negotiated and duly recognising the
respective investments of all parties.
Evgen Pharma is already progressing SFX-01 in two Phase II
trials, for advanced breast cancer and a rare type of stroke called
subarachnoid haemorrhage.
Giovanni Mann, Professor of Vascular Physiology at King's,
commented:
"We are delighted to be collaborating with Evgen Pharma on this
exciting project. We have previously had grant support from the
British Heart Foundation to test sulforaphane in laboratory models
of ischaemic stroke and produced compelling data. However,
sulforaphane is not a practical pharmaceutical product as it is
highly unstable. With SFX-01, a stable pharmaceutical version of
sulforaphane, we are now able to consider a clinical trial which
could start in early 2019."
Professor Jeremy Pearson, Associate Medical Director at the
British Heart Foundation, said:
"Sulforaphane has shown some exciting potential in reducing the
damage of a stroke and this collaboration takes a further step
towards clinical trials. The translation of our research towards
clinical benefit is a prime consideration, and this is a good
example of how BHF funding of preclinical science has led to
commercial investment to accelerate translation. "
Steve Franklin, CEO of Evgen Pharma, said:
"King's College London has world-renowned research and clinical
capabilities in stroke and approached us with great enthusiasm and
belief in the potential of SFX-01. We already have a core clinical
programme in a rare type of stroke - subarachnoid haemorrhage - and
so supporting this potential broader application in ischaemic
stroke is a good strategic fit. We were attracted not just to the
research capability but by the quality of the relationships that
King's has with the kind of major charities that could support a
future clinical programme."
Enquiries:
Evgen Pharma plc c/o +44 (0) 20 7466
Dr Stephen Franklin, CEO 5000
Richard Moulson, CFO
www.evgen.com
Buchanan
Mark Court, Sophie Wills, Stephanie +44 (0) 20 7466
Watson 5000
Northland Capital Partners Limited
Matthew Johnson, Gerry Beaney
(Corporate Finance)
John Howes, Rob Rees (Corporate +44 (0) 20 3861
Broking) 6625
Notes for editors:
About Evgen Pharma plc
Evgen Pharma is a clinical stage drug development company whose
lead programmes are in breast cancer and subarachnoid haemorrhage,
a type of stroke. The Company's core technology is Sulforadex(R), a
method for synthesising and stabilising the naturally occurring
compound sulforaphane and novel proprietary analogues based on
sulforaphane. The lead product, SFX-01, is a patented composition
of synthetic sulforaphane and alpha-cyclodextrin.
Evgen Pharma commenced operations in January 2008 and has its
headquarters at The Colony, Wilmslow, Cheshire, and its registered
office is at the Liverpool Science Park, Liverpool. It joined the
AIM market of the London Stock Exchange in October 2015 and trades
under the ticker symbol EVG.
For further information, please visit: www.evgen.com
For commissioned research on the Company, please visit:
http://evgen.com/investors/analyst-coverage/
About King's College London
King's College London is one of the top 25 universities in the
world (2017/18 QS World University Rankings), among the oldest in
England and has an outstanding reputation for world-class teaching
and cutting-edge research.
Since our foundation, King's students and staff have dedicated
themselves in the service of society. King's will continue to focus
on world-leading education, research and service, and will have an
increasingly proactive role to play in a more interconnected,
complex world. World-changing ideas. Life-changing impact:
https://spotlight.kcl.ac.uk/
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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