Roquefort Therapeutics PLC (LSE:ROQ, OTCQB:ROQAF) is "on course with targets for clinical readiness" for one of its development programmes in the second half.
In the update alongside the company's interims, investors were told Roquefort also aims to capitalise on the "paradigm shift" where 90% of successful biotech assets are acquired by big pharmaceutical companies.
Providing some context, CEO Anjan Reginald pointed out that the company product portfolio has advanced further in development than UK biotech firms recently valued at US$100 million. Roquefort's market capitalisation is a tenth of that figure.
Its pipeline now includes three separate R&D areas: antibodies, siRNA, and MK cell, all of which have demonstrated robust in vivo efficacy results.
Focusing on the STAT-6 siRNA programme, the CEO told investors: "[This] is a good example of our strategy to discover and acquire unvalidated targets before big pharma realises the value.
"In July, Sanofi completed a US$1.2 billion deal with Recludix for their pre-clinical STAT-6 program, which is in the same pre-clinical stage of development as our STAT-6 siRNA program.
"Even though STAT-6 had been worked by pharma for circa 20 years before this deal it was still an unvalidated target. After Sanofi's billion-dollar valuation and validation, many of the big pharma companies are seeking STAT-6 programmes."
During the six months ended 30 June, Roquefort signed a 10-year exclusive worldwide licence agreement with Randox Laboratories, excluding Japan, to utilise Midkine antibodies in non-core medical diagnostics.
This move is expected to reduce clinical trial time and costs while establishing the Midkine cancer market. The agreement also strengthens the company's balance sheet and highlights its leadership in Midkine therapies.
The company achieved key milestones in its ROQ-A1 and ROQ-A2 Midkine antibody programs, targeting metastatic breast cancer, as well as lung and liver metastasis. These programs have successfully demonstrated in vivo safety and have moved into efficacy studies.
Roquefort further expanded its portfolio to include mRNA cancer medicines and progressed its siRNA, MK cell therapy, and Midkine oligonucleotide programs into pre-clinical development.
The company ended the period with cash reserves of £1.4 million and a net loss of £742,833.
Post-period highlights include the significant expansion of the patent portfolio, with filings for proprietary anti-cancer mRNA and RNA oligonucleotide therapeutics, as well as new patents for its family of novel anti-cancer siRNA therapeutics.