Roquefort Therapeutics has signed an exclusive licence and royalty agreement, for the field of medical diagnostics only, with Randox Laboratories, in relation to its Midkine antibody portfolio.
In accordance with the terms of the agreement, Roquefort Therapeutics has granted an exclusive worldwide licence (excluding Japan) for a period of ten years for Randox to utilise its Midkine antibodies in the field of medical diagnostics. Randox and Roquefort Therapeutics will engage in collaborative research programs to identify new cancer diagnostics that will be treatable with the company’s Midkine therapeutics.
The commercial terms of the Randox agreement remain confidential; however, Roquefort Therapeutics estimates that the total overall transaction value to the company over the life of the agreement is in excess of £5 million.
The partnership with Randox focuses on medical diagnostics to detect the cancers that express Midkine, a heparin-binding protein which is highly expressed in cancer, prevents tumour cell death and promotes metastatic spread and resistance to treatment. This licence agreement validates Roquefort Therapeutics’ strategy of targeting Midkine and, by partnering with a leading diagnostics company producing the diagnostics which are crucial for clinical trials, the company can remain focused on developing first in class oncology medicines.
The Randox Licence Agreement is important for future cancer treatment because identifying the patients with cancers that express Midkine is highly synergistic with the development of first-in-class cancer medicines. These are the patients most likely to benefit from Midkine therapeutics (antibodies or oligonucleotides) and to be enrolled in pharmaceutical clinical trials, a key area of focus for Roquefort Therapeutics.
Ajan Reginald, CEO of Roquefort Therapeutics said: “This is highly complementary and synergistic partnership with the UK’s leading diagnostics company, Randox which enables Roquefort Therapeutics to remain focused on developing first-in-class medicines, while Randox develops the Midkine cancer diagnostics that are essential for our clinical trials. Not only does the transaction highlight our robust IP position and strengthen our balance sheet, it also reflects the high level of interest in our novel cancer pipeline and highlights the company’s rapid translation and deal-making capabilities.”
Roquefort Therapeutics’ portfolio consists of four fully funded, novel patent-protected pre-clinical anticancer medicines:
- Midkine antibodies with significant in vivo efficacy and toxicology studies
- Midkine RNA therapeutics with novel anti-cancer gene editing action
- STAT-6 siRNA therapeutics targeting solid tumours with significant in vivo efficacy
- MK cell therapy with direct and NK-mediated anti-cancer action.
For further information on Roquefort Therapeutics, please visit www.roquefortplc.com.