Service Agreement with Drug Development Company

RNS Number : 2348E

Oxford Cannabinoid Tech.Holdings

06 July 2021

 

6 July 2021

OXFORD CANNABINOID TECHNOLOGIES HOLDINGS PLC

("OCTP" or the "Company") 

Service Agreement with drug development company Evotec

Oxford Cannabinoid Technologies Holdings plc, is pleased to announce that on 5 July 2021 its subsidiary, Oxford Cannabinoid Technologies Ltd ("OCT"), a pharmaceutical company focussed on developing cannabinoid-based prescription medicines approved by medicines regulatory agencies, entered into a service agreement with Aptuit (Verona) SRL, a subsidiary of Evotec SE (together "Evotec"), a fully integrated drug discovery and development company.

This agreement will use Evotec's technology platform to expedite the development of OCTP's lead compound, OCT461201, a selective cannabinoid receptor type 2 agonist, towards Phase 1 clinical trials. This Phase 1 clinical trial will be aimed at demonstrating the safety and tolerabililty of the drug product.

OCT461201 will enter Evotec's INDiGO programme, an integrated drug development process for accelerating early drug candidates to clinical trial stage.

The INDiGO programme, which has an anticipated duration of approximately 12 months, seeks to clear OCT461201 for its first in-human clinical studies, by providing comprehensive manufacturing, safety, and toxicology packages for regulatory submission to the UK Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency ("MHRA") and the US Food and Drug Administration ("FDA"). Evotec will also manufacture and formulate the OCT461201 drug product for use in clinical studies.

The Directors of OCTP believe the INDiGO programme will increase development speed and optimise the chances of successfully progressing OCT461201 through the clinical phases in a timely manner.

Based in Hamburg, Evotec SE has sites in Germany, Austria, France, Italy, the UK, and the US, and Evotec states that it has successfully completed in excess of 50 INDiGO projects.

Dr John Lucas, Chief Executive Officer of OCTP, said: "We are very excited to enter this partnership with Evotec and progress our drugs candidate pipeline to the next stage. The Directors are focussed on delivering on the development timeline we set out in our prospectus, and signing this agreement keeps the Company firmly on that path.

"Evotec was selected as our drug development partner based on its professionalism and track record. Evotec's broad range of integrated capabilities spanning the R&D process will power our cannabinoid discovery engine, limiting the risk of delays and enabling successful progression.  Specifically, this service agreement will help accelerate our lead compound, OCT461201, towards first in-human clinical trials and, ultimately to patients, to provide a much-needed safe and effective pain treatment."

Dr Craig Johnstone, Chief Operating Officer of Evotec SE, said: "We are very glad to enter this agreement with OCT to support the development of their lead compound OCT461201. Our integrated INDiGO offering is designed to de-risk projects during pre-clinical development by taking an integrated approach, solving problems and managing all process steps under one roof. Within the more than 50 INDiGO projects completed successfully, we have averaged a timeline of just 46 weeks by prioritising science, quality, and interdisciplinary coordination. We look forward to working with the team at OCTP as OCT461201 proceeds towards the clinic."

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of EU Regulation 596/2014 (which forms part of domestic UK law pursuant to the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018).

The Directors of the Company accept responsibility for the content of this announcement.

Enquiries

Oxford Cannabinoid Technologies plc -   +44 ( 0)20 3034 2820  

Dr John Lucas (CEO)                                            [e-mail]

Clarissa Sowemimo-Coker (COO)  [e-mail]

Cairn Financial Advisers - Financial Adviser   

Emily Staples  [phone]

Jo Turner    [phone]

Acuitas Communications  [phone]

Simon Nayyar    [e-mail]  

Edward Lee  [e-mail]

James Gittings    [e-mail]

Caution regarding forward looking statements

Certain statements in this announcement, are, or may be deemed to be, forward looking statements. Forward looking statements are identified by their use of terms and phrases such as ''believe'', ''could'', "should" ''envisage'', ''estimate'', ''intend'', ''may'', ''plan'', ''potentially'', "expect", ''will'' or the negative of those, variations or comparable expressions, including references to assumptions. These forward-looking statements are not based on historical facts but rather on the Directors' current expectations and assumptions regarding the Company's future growth, results of operations, performance, future capital and other expenditures (including the amount, nature and sources of funding thereof), competitive advantages, business prospects and opportunities. Such forward looking statements reflect the Directors' current beliefs and assumptions and are based on information currently available to the Directors.

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