Strong progress for drug development company
Drug development company Evgen Pharma said it has “achieved a great deal” in recent months in the research and operational sides of the business.
Evgen, which operates from Wilmslow and Liverpool, develops medicines with a focus on cancer and respiratory diseases.
Dr Huw Jones, who joined as chief executive in October, said: “Substantial progress was made in the half year in business development and in particular in our STAR trial where patients with community acquired pneumonia from any infection including Covid-19 can be recruited.”
He said “preliminary pre-clinical data look compelling” for its next cancer indication as the company continues “to demonstrate the huge potential of our pipeline”.
Evgen’s core technology is Sulforadex, a method for synthesising and stabilising the naturally-occurring compound sulforaphane and novel proprietary analogues based on sulforaphane.
Its lead product, SFX-01, has has been used to treat over 150 patients in clinical trials for advanced metastatic breast cancer.
The business recorded a £1.8m loss in the six months to September, which it said was in line with expectations, and had £2.3m cash at the end of the period.
In September it revealed it had agreed a licensing deal worth an initial £8m with biotech incubator Juvenescence. The payments are based on milestones, with royalties on sales, and the product is expected to be launched in two years’ time.
