- First in a series of planned in-licensing agreements and acquisitions to expand Oasmia’s oncology pipeline
- Cantrixil proof of concept established in successful Phase I trial in the US and Australia
- Evaluating synergies between Cantrixil and Oasmia’s XR-17™ solubility technology
Uppsala, Sweden, March 1 2021 – Oasmia Pharmaceutical AB, an innovation-focused specialty pharmaceutical company, today announces that it signed an agreement with Kazia Therapeutics, an Australian oncology-focused biotechnology company, to acquire exclusive global development rights for Cantrixil, a product candidate in development intended for the treatment of ovarian cancer. The agreement is the first in a series of planned in-licensing deals and acquisitions to expand Oasmia’s oncology portfolio, leveraging its proven development and regulatory capabilities.
Oasmia will acquire the license for an upfront cash consideration of $4m, development milestones worth up to $42m and cumulative sales-based royalties. In addition to its promise as stand-alone therapy, Cantrixil has the potential to complement Oasmia’s lead product for ovarian cancer, Apealea®, through treatment protocols to be developed. It may also offer synergies with Oasmia’s XR-17™ technology platform, which could enhance solubility in various routes of administration.
François Martelet, M.D., CEO of Oasmia, commented: "This agreement is the first step in our transformative ‘string of pearls’ strategy designed to achieve critical mass in Oasmia’s oncology portfolio. Cantrixil is an exciting addition and builds on our development expertise in ovarian cancer. Acquiring rights to Cantrixil, which has established clinical proof of concept, is a major step forward in executing our strategy, and we will continue to leverage our development and partnering expertise to expand our oncology pipeline."
Cantrixil consists of the active molecule, a potent and selective third generation benzopyran SMETI inhibitor named TRXE-002-01, encapsulated in a cyclodextrin. It is believed to target a wide spectrum of cancer cells, including chemotherapy-resistant tumor-initiating cells that are thought to be responsible for disease relapse. In December 2020, Kazia released the top-line results of a Phase I open-label study (NCT02903771) conducted at sites in the USA and Australia. The Phase I study met its primary endpoints, establishing clinical proof of concept, subject to further clinical evaluation and confirmation.
A Phase II study with Cantrixil is expected to be initiated in 2022.
James Garner, CEO and Managing Director at Kazia Therapeutics added: “We are excited by the potential of this novel candidate to target and kill tumor-initiating cells responsible for cancers originating, metastasizing, and relapsing. These slower-growing tumor-initiating cells are often resistant to other types of chemotherapies. Cantrixil has the potential to become a standard front-line agent, complementing the use of platinum therapy in Ovarian cancer patients. Oasmia’s expertise and track record in developing oncology drugs through to approval makes them ideally placed to continue the development of Cantrixil forward to benefit patients who currently have limited treatment options.”
Conference call
The company will hold a conference call and an online presentation on March 1, 2021 at 14.00 CET. The call will be hosted by CEO Francois Martelet, and Acting CSO Reinhard Koenig. The presentation will be in English.
The conference call will be broadcast live on the web via the link:
https://tv.streamfabriken.com/press-conference-march-2021
Telephone number for the conference call is:
SE: +46856642705
UK: +443333009264
US: +18335268383
For More Information:
Oasmia Pharmaceutical AB
Francois Martelet, Chief Executive Officer
Phone: +46 18-50 54 40
E-mail: IR@oasmia.com
Consilium Strategic Communications (For Oasmia)
Jonathan Birt, Chris Welsh, Ashley Tapp
Phone: +44 (0)20 3709 5700
E-mail: oasmia@consilium-comms.com
About Oasmia Pharmaceutical AB
Oasmia is a specialty pharma company dedicated to improving the lives of patients by enhancing the intravenous delivery of established and novel drugs in significant diseases, including cancer. Product development is primarily based on the Company’s proprietary drug delivery technology platform which can be applied to medicines used in many therapeutic areas, to develop water soluble formulations of drugs that currently require chemical solubilizers for dissolution. The first product approved using this technology is Apealea (paclitaxel micellar). Apealea has received market authorization in the European Union and several other territories for the treatment of first relapse in platinum-sensitive ovarian cancer, in combination with carboplatin. The Company is making Apealea accessible to patients through its partnership with Elevar Therapeutics, together with its existing commercial operations in the Nordic region. Oasmia’s shares are traded on the Nasdaq Stockholm stock exchange (ticker: OASM). To find out more about Oasmia please visit www.vivesto.com.
About Kazia Therapeutics Limited
Kazia Therapeutics Limited (ASX: KZA, NASDAQ: KZIA) is an innovative oncology-focused biotechnology company, based in Sydney, Australia. Our pipeline includes two clinical-stage drug development candidates, and we are working to develop therapies across a range of oncology indications. Our lead program is paxalisib (formerly GDC-0084), a small molecule inhibitor of the PI3K / AKT / mTOR pathway, which is being developed to treat glioblastoma, the most common and most aggressive form of primary brain cancer in adults. Licensed from Genentech in late 2016, paxalisib entered GBM AGILE, a pivotal study in glioblastoma, in October 2020. Five additional studies are active in other forms of brain cancer. Paxalisib was granted Orphan Drug Designation for glioblastoma by the US FDA in February 2018, and Fast Track Designation for glioblastoma by the US FDA in August 2020. In addition, paxalisib was granted Rare Pediatric Disease Designation and Orphan Designation by the US FDA for DIPG in August 2020. TRX-E-002-1 (Cantrixil) is a third generation benzopyran molecule with activity against cancer stem cells and is being developed to treat ovarian cancer. TRX-E-002-1 has completed a phase I clinical trial in Australia and the United States. Cantrixil was granted orphan designation for ovarian cancer by the US FDA in April 2015.
For more information, please visit www.kaziatherapeutics.com.