Nuvec licence extension

RNS Number : 0355L

N4 Pharma PLC

20 December 2018

 

20 December 2018

N4 Pharma Plc

("N4 Pharma" or the "Company")

Nuvec® licence extension

N4 Pharma Plc (AIM: N4P), the specialist pharmaceutical company developing a novel delivery system for vaccines and cancer treatments, today announces that it has extended the terms of its licence agreement with UniQuest Pty Ltd ("UNIQUEST"), a University of Queensland, Australia, company, for the exploitation of its novel delivery system Nuvec® (the "Licence Agreement").

Previously, the Company had a licence to pursue the use of nucleic acids in all human therapeutic  treatments, with an option to extend its licence to additional fields such as animal vaccines, peptides and small molecules.  Under the extended terms of the Licence Agreement, the Company now has an exclusive global licence for the commercialisation of Nuvec® in all these areas, as well as other possible commercial applications, such as dual therapy cancer treatments. The Company has subsequently licensed back to UNIQUEST certain defined fields which the Company does not consider relevant to the Company's targeted applications, but in which UNIQUEST is intending to carry out research.

The provisions regarding the payment of royalties by the Company to UNIQUEST remain unchanged from the original licence agreement.

The Nuvec® particles have a hollow mesoporous structure with a spiky external structure. The pores are not needed for the transfection of DNA and RNA since the DNA and RNA is trapped within the spikes of the Nuvec® structure. Under the Licence Agreement, the Company is now able to investigate developing products loaded with small molecules, that can enter into the hollow cavity of the Nuvec® particles through the pores whilst simultaneously trapping the DNA or RNA in the spikes. Combining small molecules, such as chemotherapeutic payloads or cancer imaging agents, with DNA or RNA could enable the Nuvec® particles to deliver both elements directly into cancerous tumours, potentially creating a dual therapy approach to cancer treatments.

Further novel uses of Nuvec® particles, such as direct loading of small molecules into the core without adding DNA or RNA in the spikes, could also potentially be developed as the unique spiky structure of the particle in this instance can lead to good adhesion and sustained compound release.

Nigel Theobald, CEO of N4 Pharma commented:

"With the extension of this Licence Agreement with UNIQUEST we are now able to further enter into the ever growing field of cancer treatment development by researching this new dual therapy approach to the treatment of cancerous tumours through combining small molecules with DNA and RNA to our Nuvec® particles. We can also investigate the unique structure of Nuvec® for the improved delivery of traditional small molecules, an area where existing nanoparticles are already widely used.

"The extension of the Licence Agreement allows for many new potential applications to be developed and we will be updating the market on our plans in these areas in due course."

Enquiries:

N4 Pharma Plc Nigel Theobald, CEO	Via Alma PR
Allenby Capital Limited James Reeve/Asha Chotai	Tel: [phone]
Alma PR Josh Royston Robyn Fisher	Tel: [phone] Tel: [phone]

About N4 Pharma

N4 Pharma is a specialist pharmaceutical company developing a novel delivery system for vaccines and cancer treatments using its unique silica nanoparticle delivery system called Nuvec®.

Nuvec® has already shown to be capable of loading and delivering mRNA and pDNA into cells to the required level needed to generate an immune response capable of strong antibody production.

N4 Pharma's business model is to partner with companies developing novel antigens for vaccines and cancer treatments to use Nuvec® as the delivery vehicle to get their antigen into cells to express the protein needed for the required immunity. As these products progress through pre clinical and clinical programs, N4 Pharma will seek to receive up front payments, milestone payments and ultimately royalty payments once products reach the market.

 

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