Pre-clinical data for a potential cancer-treating combination using Sareum Holdings PLC’s (LON:SAR) Chk1 inhibitor has been presented to the American Association of Cancer Research’s annual meeting.
In a poster presentation, US firm Sierra Oncology, which has exclusively licensed Sareum's cancer candidate SRA737, will demonstrate that the molecule synergizes with niraparib, a poly ADP-ribose (PARP) inhibitor.
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PARP inhibitors prevent the repair of DNA damage and are developed as treatments for cancer and other indications while Chk-1 inhibitors use the body’s immune system to attack cancer cells.
Niraparib is an orally active small molecule PARP inhibitor approved in the US to treat ovarian cancer.
Sierra Oncology licensed the worldwide rights for SRA737 from Sareum's co-investment partner, the CRT Pioneer Fund, in September 2016.
Tim Mitchell, Sareum’s chief executive said the poster highlighted the encouraging progress of this combination.
“Combining these two modalities to induce synthetic lethality in cancer cells is a compelling proposition.”
A clinical development programme is possible later in the year, he added.
Sareum shares held steady at 0.95p in afternoon trading.
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