Pharma company sells cancer treatment programme in potential $200m deal
Cheshire-based Redx Pharma has today revealed a deal to sell a cancer treatment programme to Dublin company Jazz Pharmaceuticals.
Under the terms of the deal Redx will receive $3.5m up front, and up to $203m in milestone payments and royalty payments.
Redx is also eligible for incremental tiered royalties in mid-single digit percentage, based on any future net sales.
The Alderley Park firm will collaborate with Jazz to advance the programme through enabling studies.
Jazz will be responsible for all future development, regulatory, manufacturing and commercialisation activities.
As part of a separate collaboration agreement, signed in parallel, Jazz will pay Redx to perform research and preclinical development services with the goal of completing enabling studies.
Lisa Anson, Redx chief executive, said: “We are pleased to deliver on our previously announced intention to realise value from our pan-RAF research programme through entering into this strategic transaction with Jazz.
“Jazz has a growing hematology/oncology portfolio and demonstrated success in developing and commercialising treatments for patients worldwide.
“This transaction validates Redx’s excellence in drug design and represents the company’s second oncology deal in the last two years, following the sale of our BTK inhibitor programme to Loxo Oncology in 2017.
“We look forward to working with Jazz to advance the pan-RAF inhibitor programme.”
Robert Iannone, executive vice president, research and development of Jazz Pharmaceuticals said: “We are excited to acquire Redx’s pan-RAF inhibitor programme.
“It has the potential to work in RAF-driven tumors where current selective B-RAF inhibitors and their respective combinations are ineffective due to acquired resistance mechanisms.
“In addition, there is the potential to address RAS driven tumors.”
He added: “We look forward to advancing the pan-RAF inhibitor programme that is part of a novel class of next generation precision oncology drugs and is highly complementary to our growing R&D portfolio of early-stage, innovative, hematology/oncology therapies.”
Redx said the $3.5m upfront payment received will be used for working capital, extending the group’s cash runway through to 2020.
The Company will continue to execute its strategy and, in particular, progress patient recruitment in the ongoing phase 1/2a trial of RXC004, an oral porcupine inhibitor aimed at treating cancer driven by the Wnt pathway.
It said the board continues to be in active discussions with shareholders and third-party healthcare specialist investors regarding longer-term funding of the group and will provide further updates in due course.
Jazz Pharmaceuticals is based in Dublin, but has operations in five North American locations – Palo Alto, California, Philadelphia, New Jersey, Vancouver and Oakville, Ontario – as well as six European sites in Oxford, Roscommon in Ireland, Barcelona, Lyon, Munich and Italy.
