Business
Licensing Deal with Cancer Re
Licensing Deal with Cancer Re.
About this update from Valirx Plc
[{"type":"text","content":"\n RNS Number : 9418Q ValiRx PLC 12 August 2010 \n \n\nValiRx Plc\n(\"ValiRx\" or \"the Company\")\n \nValiRx SIGNS LICENSING DEAL WITH CANCER RESEARCH TECHNOLOGY \nTO DEVELOP PROSTATE CANCER TREATMENT\n \nValiRx Plc (AIM: VAL), a life science company with a focus on cancer diagnostics and therapeutics for personalised medicine, is pleased to announce that it has concluded a licensing agreement with Cancer Research Technology (\"CRT\") for the global commercial rights to the promising compound VAL 201 and to develop the compound into a treatment against hormone-resistant prostate cancer.\n \nVAL 201 has been shown in prostate cancer models to stop the growth of tumours which have been unresponsive to hormone treatments. VAL 201 blocks the activity of another compound which can cause prostate cancer to develop. VAL 201 is now progressing towards the first clinical trials in patients.\n \nUnder the terms of the deal, ValiRx has exclusive development and commercialisation rights to VAL 201 in the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of cancer and other diseases. On completing an out-licensing deal for the compound, CRT will receive milestone payments and royalties on sales \n \nCurrently, prostate cancer is the most common cancer amongst men with 10,000 deaths each year in the UK alone. This cancer is diagnosed in 35,000 men each year in the UK; for those with an advanced stage of the disease, hormone therapy will work in 80%-90% of cases, although the effect of hormone therapy will reduce as patients become resistant to the treatment at some stage. This resistance does not appear to be related to the length of time a patient is receiving treatment.\n \nThe prostate cancer market was estimated to be worth $5.2 billion in 2008 and is projected to grow to $7.7 billion by 2015. Significant market opportunities exist for novel targeted treatment strategies that prolong survival, such as therapies for hormone refractory prostate cancer.\n \nUnder the terms of the licence with CRT, ValiRx will be responsible for performing the pre-clinical development and obtaining regulatory approval to take the compound into clinical trials in patients. ValiRx will manage the commercialisation and development of potential treatments .\n \nDr Satu Vainikka, CEO Valirx commented:\n\"This is a significant...