Medicus Pharma (NASDAQ:MDCX) CEO Raza Bokhari talked with Proactive about the company’s latest strategic developments. Bokhari discussed the definitive agreement to acquire Antev, a UK-based company advancing clinical programs for two indications.
He explained that Antev is developing a next-generation gonadotropin-releasing hormone therapy for advanced prostate cancer in patients with high cardiovascular risk, and a novel noninvasive treatment to prevent relapse of acute urinary retention.
Proactive: All right, welcome back inside our Proactive newsroom. And joining me now is Dr. Raza Bokhari. He is the CEO of Medicus Pharma. Dr. Bokhari, good to see you again. How are you?
Raza Bokhari: Thank you for having me back on your program. A lot has been going on at Medicus since we last spoke.
Yes, so we’ve got a lot of stuff to talk about, so let’s get to it. First off, one of the big ones is you’ve signed a deal to acquire Antev. So, tell me a little bit about this company and the reasoning behind this.
Indeed, it is an exciting day at Medicus Pharma for our team, shareholders, and stakeholders. We have entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Antev, a UK-based company that is advancing the clinical development program of a next-generation gonadotropin-releasing hormone. The company has been doing this for quite some time. They have two indications with Phase 2 approved studies. One is for advanced prostate cancer treatment in patients with a high cardiovascular risk profile. The second is a novel therapy that has never been tried before to bring to market a noninvasive treatment alternative to prevent relapse of acute urinary retention. So it fits very well into our strategy to continue to find and bring under our umbrella novel assets that fulfill unmet medical needs.
So this operates separately from what you’re doing with SKNJCT? Is there some overlap, or is this something you’ll be working on in conjunction with SKNJCT?
It is in addition to SKNJCT. SKNJCT is indeed our flagship asset. Just like SKNJCT, which is maturing very nicely, we have a Phase 2 study that is now going beyond the shores of the United States. It sits as a wholly owned subsidiary. Antev will be another wholly owned subsidiary based in the UK, where we also have this clinical program to advance novel treatment for acute urinary retention prevention.
I would imagine that this is really the design of the building of your company from the very beginning—to find unique things that you think can fit under your umbrella. And this sounds like another one of those.
Indeed. Our mandate is to find these novel assets that are addressing an unmet medical need and are novel and disruptive in nature. Since we came on the scene in the fall of 2023, we now have active engagement in multiple countries spread over three continents. So we are very excited by the progress that we are making, and this fits right in our wheelhouse.
I want to ask you about a couple of things on the management side because you had an announcement of a new Chief Operating Officer, Andrew Smith. Strengthening your management team is key for a company to move forward.
Absolutely. Pursuit of perfection remains an unfinished business at Medicus Pharma. We have a very strong management team, both on the medical side as well as on the operations and financial side. But Andrew Smith coming in as Chief Operating Officer, as we are expanding our engagements in three-plus continents and multiple countries, is very timely. He brings a lot of experience in capital markets, being the former CFO and CEO of Aberdeen Asset Management, a large-cap entity. Andrew is a great addition for us. We are also strengthening our board. We have just put our circular to shareholders. We all are standing for election, myself included, in July. We have also added to the slate the gentlelady from Spokane, Washington, Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers. Until recently, she was the chairwoman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Cathy joining the board adds more oversight and a remarkable experience in terms of the FDA, and hopefully will improve our interactions with the FDA. The FDA was under Cathy’s purview for more than a few years while she was the chairwoman. We have a lot of positive momentum at Medicus Pharma.
Quotes have been lightly edited for clarity and style