ValiRx Plc’s (LON:VAL) joint venture ValiSeek has agreed to letters of intent with one European and one US partner to take lung cancer treatment VAL401 into a phase III trial.
ValiSeek is also seeking external financing towards the next trial and will handle the commercial negotiations with ValiRx having no further financial commitment to the next stages of VAL401’s development.
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ValiRx will, however, benefit from all commercial returns pro-rata to its 55% stake in the JV.
Suzanne Dilly, ValiSeek’s chief executive, said: "Progressing ValiSeek to the next phase of development is an exciting prospect, and with two partners already confirmed, I look forward to concluding arrangements to start the final clinical trials"
Last year, the AIM-quoted firm released the results from a phase II trial which confirmed that the drug had a “statistically significant” improvement in overall survival for patients with non-small cell lung cancer compared to those receiving no treatment.
The data also showed that VAL401 had a “measurable improvement” on a patient’s quality of life.