On November 10, 2020 ValiRx (AIM: VAL) a clinical stage drug development company, reported that it has entered into an agreement with Kalos Therapeutics (Kalos), a US-based private biotechnology company, to evaluate its peptide KTH222 as a drug candidate for treating patients with ovarian cancer. This project underscores ValiRx’s new strategy to grow a pipeline of innovative, early-stage projects in the area of oncology and women’s health (Press release, ValiRx, NOV 10, 2020, View Source [SID1234573535]).
Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:
Early/Late Stage Pipeline Development - Target Scouting - Clinical Biomarkers - Indication Selection & Expansion - BD&L Contacts - Conference Reports - Combinatorial Drug Settings - Companion Diagnostics - Drug Repositioning - First-in-class Analysis - Competitive Analysis - Deals & Licensing
Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!
Under the terms of the agreement, ValiRx has the right to perform a defined series of preclinical, cell-based assays to consider the benefit of using KTH222 in combination with standard of care treatment, Paclitaxel. At the conclusion of the estimated six-month evaluation schedule (May 2021), ValiRx has the option to enter a full licensing agreement, with KTH222 anticipated to be integrated into a jointly owned ValiRx subsidiary for further clinical development.
Kalos has completed lead optimisation and proof-of-concept preclinical studies. Kalos will remain actively interested in the programme, contributing scientific expertise during the evaluation period and is expected to be an active partner in the subsequent joint venture. In return, on entering the evaluation agreement, Kalos has been pledged 10,000 ValiRx shares, subject to approval by shareholders at the 2021 Annual General Meeting of the Company.
Dr Suzy Dilly, CEO of ValiRx commented, "I am delighted to announce this new evaluation agreement with Kalos Therapeutics. This project is an excellent example of the assets we are looking to acquire; ovarian cancer sits squarely in our portfolio focused on oncology and women’s health, and the peptide nature of the drug is within our development expertise. Importantly, this agreement underscores our new strategy to identify and develop promising early-stage therapies with the aim of progressing such assets to the next stage of development."
George Colberg, CEO of Kalos Therapeutics added, "I’m looking forward to working with the ValiRx team to further our development of KTH222 into ovarian cancer. Our central ethos at Kalos has always been to develop drugs that are kinder to patients, and we were delighted to find a team with comparable ideals."
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of EU Regulation 596/2014.