SR Pharma plc to Receive Milestone Payments of up to US$95 Million (~£50
Million) from Pfizer as a Result of a Sublicensing Deal
London, UK, 26 September 2006 ….. SR Pharma plc (London LSE: SPA) announces
that its operating subsidiary Atugen AG will receive milestone payments of up
to US$95 million as well as royalties as a result of a sublicensing deal
announced today between its collaborator Quark Biotech Inc., Atugen AG and
Pfizer Inc. SR Pharma will receive an initial payment of $2 million and a first
milestone payment of $1.5 million on the start of the Phase I trial. All
agreements are subject to certain conditions which include the clearance by the
U.S. Federal Trade Commission. The payments relate to a RNAi therapeutic
product (RTP-801i) developed under an agreement between Quark and Atugen for
the treatment of Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD) and other diseases. The
financial terms of the sublicensing transaction between Quark Biotech and
Pfizer have not been disclosed.
Quark Biotech and Atugen have collaborated on this AtuRNAi therapeutic siRNA
product for AMD since 2004 and are currently collaborating on additional
therapeutic AtuRNAi siRNA products in other indications.
Iain Ross, Chairman of SR Pharma, said: "This deal, which will result in
milestone payments directly to Atugen of up to US$95 million and additional
potential upside of royalties, is a significant validation of Atugen's
proprietary siRNA technology (AtuRNAi)."
Thomas Christély, Chief Executive Officer of Atugen stated: "This is a
break-through for SR Pharma's siRNA therapeutics programs as this represents
our first siRNA molecule out-licensed to a large pharma company."
* Ends -
SR Pharma (www.srpharma.com)
SR Pharma plc is a European biopharmaceutical company, listed on AIM. The
Company has two operating subsidiaries Atugen AG (www.atugen.com) based in
Berlin, Germany and Stanford Rook Ltd based in London, UK.
Atugen is a leader in RNAi therapeutics. This Company has developed novel,
chemically modified proprietary siRNA molecules ("AtuRNAi") and a proprietary
delivery system ("AtuPLEX") both of which have advantages over conventional
siRNA molecules and their delivery systems. Currently Atugen and its
collaboration partners have lead molecules in pre-clinical development for a
variety of therapeutic indications. Clinical development of AtuRNAi therapeutic
molecules for systemic applications in Atugen's oncology programs are targeted
to start in 2007. Other clinical AtuRNAi therapeutic programs of Atugen's
collaborators are scheduled to commence in 2H 2006.
Stanford Rook Ltd is an immunotherapy based company which owns a proprietary
Mycobacterium vaccae-based technology and related products, which have been
evaluated in clinical trials for the treatment of asthma, cancer and
tuberculosis. In addition this Company has a number of other proprietary
immunotherapeutic compounds and related intellectual property. Currently the
Company is in discussions with third parties regarding the co-development and
out-licensing of M. vaccae and related products |
