Roquefort Therapeutics PLC (LSE:ROQ, OTCQB:ROQAF) said it is engaged in out-licensing discussions with "multiple" large biopharmaceutical companies.
These discussions are focused on partnerships for the company's core cancer therapeutic programmes, including Midkine antibodies, Midkine RNA therapeutics, STAT-6 siRNA therapeutics and MK cell therapy.
The development-stage oncology group is also talking to potential partners for non-core applications of its technology such as diagnostics, biomarker detection, and therapy areas outside of cancer.
In addition to these out-licensing discussions, Roquefort has made progress on its pre-clinical drug development pipeline during a "busy" fourth quarter of 2022.
The company has continued to advance its four fully-funded, patent-protected pre-clinical anti-cancer drugs through partnerships with leading academic cancer research centres and at its own state-of-the-art laboratory in Stratford-upon-Avon.
The company has also signed partnership agreements with several leading academic cancer research centres to advance the development of its programmes.
The Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute at La Trobe University in Melbourne is partnering with Roquefort on its breast cancer metastasis antibody program, while the Lowy Cancer Research Centre at the University of New South Wales is collaborating on the liver and colorectal cancer Midkine RNA and STAT-6 siRNA programs.
The Hawkins Laboratory at La Trobe University is working with Roquefort on its lung cancer metastasis antibody program, and the School of Medical Sciences at the University of Sydney is partnering on the Midkine RNA program.
In a comprehensive update, Roquefort said it has hired Dr Emma Morris as head of pre-clinical research.
She has previously served as operational scientific director at the UK Health Security Rosalind Franklin Laboratory and was a senior cancer researcher at the University of Oxford.
Much of the company's current research effort is focused on the development of Midkine antibodies in cancer,
So, it is designing drugs to target breast and lung cancer metastasis, while the Midkine RNA programme is focused on liver, colorectal, and lung cancer.
The STAT-6 siRNA program is also targeting liver and colorectal cancers, while its MK cell therapy is focused on developing a treatment for a range of cancer types.