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Lipoxen in research collaboration with Russia’s Pharmsynthez

Last updated: 13:59 16 Nov 2009 GMT, First published: 14:59 16 Nov 2009 GMT

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Biopharma group Lipoxen PLC (AIM: LPX) said it has signed a collaboration deal with Russian private research-based pharmaceutical company Pharmasynthez ZAO to apply Lipoxen's ImuXen and PolyXen proprietary technologies to a broad range of six drug and vaccine candidates in collaboration with Pharmsynthez.

Lipoxen, specialised in the development of high-value differentiated biologicals, vaccines and small interfering RNA (siRNA) delivery, will provide scientific supervision to Pharmsynthez for candidate optimisation, and clinical proof of concept trials will be funded by Pharmsynthez. Lipoxen will have access to all relevant clinical data arising from the subsequent clinical trials.

Under the agreement, Pharmsynthez will apply Lipoxen's ImuXen technology to create three enhanced vaccine candidates for secondary progressive multiple sclerosis, HIV and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Similarly, Lipoxen's PolyXen technology will be applied to active compounds to create three pharmaceutical candidates for treatment of cystic fibrosis, acute myeloid leukaemia, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and type 2 diabetes.

Pharmsynthez will optimise the candidates with guidance from Lipoxen and will complete testing to achieve clinical proof of principle the end of 2010. Candidates that show promise will then progress to full-scale clinical development in Europe and the US.

Secondary progressive multiple sclerosis, cystic fibrosis, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and acute myeloid leukaemia are all rare diseases and candidates that are progressed for these indications could be eligible for an abbreviated clinical pathway under European Medicines Agency and Food and Drug Administration regulations and market exclusivity for ten years and seven years respectively. Lipoxen will have the right to use all relevant data from the clinical trials to conduct further trials and seek marketing authorisation in other world territories.

As a result of the agreement, Lipoxen will receive royalties of 10 percent of all net sales from Pharmsynthez should the products progress through clinical development and be approved for marketing in the Russian Federation.

A programme committee, to be chaired by Lipoxen, will be formed to progress the agreement which will comprise representatives from both companies. Any arising intellectual property will be jointly owned by the two parties, unless it relates solely to Lipoxen's platform technologies.

At the end of September, the company posted narrower H1 losses and announced it was appointed as lead member of the Technology Strategy Board’s grant consortium for its controlled-release nanoparticle vaccine research programme which includes Lipoxen’s influenza vaccine project.

First-half turnover was practically unchanged at £411,000, and pretax losses narrowed to £1.43 million from almost £2 million a year earlier. Operational achievements included securing a DNA vaccine patent in the EU and the US, completion of Phase I trials for ErepoXen and SuliXen, clearing the way for Phase II trials, and securing a technology evaluation agreement for the siRNAblate gene silencing platform technology.

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