WINNERSH, UNITED KINGDOM--(Marketwired - Feb 14, 2017) - Vernalis plc (LSE: VER) is pleased to announce the achievement of a clinical milestone from its collaboration with Corvus Pharmaceuticals Inc ("Corvus") triggering a payment of $3 million to Vernalis.
In February 2015, the Company licensed exclusive, worldwide rights to its adenosine receptor antagonist programme, CPI-444, for use in all therapeutic applications to Corvus, a US-based biotechnology company focused on developing novel immuno-oncology therapies.
CPI-444 is a patented small molecule that is now being evaluated in a Phase 1/1b trial in patients with advanced cancers. It is the lead molecule in Corvus' pipeline and is being developed both as a single agent and in combination therapy. The clinical trial utilizes an adaptive design that allows expansion of disease-specific cohorts upon reaching certain pre-defined endpoints.
Corvus announced positive data from its Phase 1/1b study in January 2017, having achieved the clinical study protocol criteria for expansion in the cohort of patients with renal cell carcinoma with single agent CPI-444. This study expansion triggers the first clinical milestone payment of $3 million under the licensing agreement. Corvus has stated that, if early findings are confirmed with longer follow up and a larger set of patients in this expanded study, a registration trial could commence by the end of 2017.
Corvus was launched through a $33.3 million Series A fundraising in 2014 by the founder and former senior management at Pharmacyclics Inc and it raised a further $74.8 million Series B fundraising in 2015 and $70.7 million via a US IPO in March 2016.
The licensing deal has the potential for Vernalis to earn approximately $220 million in milestones from all indications, subject to development, regulatory and sales milestones being achieved. In addition, there are mid-single digit royalties payable if a product reaches the market, with the potential to reach low-double digit royalties in certain circumstances.
Ian Garland, CEO of Vernalis commented "We are delighted with both the speed of progress of CPI-444 and the promising indication of single-agent activity in renal cell carcinoma patients as well other disease cohorts. Corvus has a wealth of clinical and commercial expertise and continues to demonstrate that it is an ideal partner for the program. We will watch progress with a great deal of interest over the remainder of 2017."
This announcement contains inside information.
Enquiries:
| Vernalis plc: | +44 (0) 118 938 0015 |
| Ian Garland, Chief Executive Officer | |
| David Mackney, Chief Financial Officer | |
| Canaccord Genuity Limited (Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker): | +44 (0) 20 7523 8000 |
| Rupert Winckler | |
| Henry Fitzgerald-O'Connor | |
| Emma Gabriel | |
| Shore Capital (Joint Broker): | +44 (0)20 7408 4090 |
| Bidhi Bhoma | |
| Toby Gibbs | |
| FTI Consulting: | +44 (0) 20 3727 1000 |
| Ben Atwell | |
| Simon Conway | |
| Stephanie Cuthbert | |
Notes to Editors
About Vernalis
Vernalis is a revenue generating, commercial stage pharmaceutical company with significant expertise in drug development. The Group has three approved products: Tuzistra® XR targeting the US prescription cough-cold market; Moxatag®, a once-a-day formulation of the antibiotic, amoxicillin, indicated for the treatment of tonsillitis and/or pharyngitis secondary to Streptococcus pyogenes in adults and pediatric patients 12 years and older; and frovatriptan for the acute treatment of migraine. It has an exclusive licensing agreement to develop and commercialise multiple novel products focussed on the US prescription cough-cold market as well as eight programmes in its NCE development pipeline. Vernalis has also significant expertise in fragment and structure based drug discovery which it leverages to enter into collaborations with larger pharmaceutical companies. The Company's technologies, capabilities and products have been endorsed over the last five years by collaborations with leading pharmaceutical companies, including Asahi Kasei Pharma, Biogen Idec, Endo, GSK, Genentech, Lundbeck, Menarini, Novartis, Servier, Taisho, and Tris.