Panther to acquire technology assets of Faulk Pharmaceuticals
Transaction expands Panther's pipeline to include multiple new drug candidates in cancer and antiviral diseases
Panther Biotechnology has entered into a definitive agreement with privately held Faulk Pharmaceuticals to acquire Faulk's pharmaceutical technology assets. The transaction will provide Panther with a proprietary, multi-nationally patent protected, ligand-drug conjugate technology platform as well as a pipeline of drug product candidates that address unmet medical needs in oncology, autoimmune, antiviral and other disease indications.
The lead development programme is a ligand-drug conjugate, TRF-DOX, a combination of transferrin glycoproteins with Doxorubicin designed for the targeted delivery of drugs to tumours; it also reduces the serious side-effects associated with conventional administration. Clinical results demonstrate significant improvement compared with Doxorubicin.
In a randomised, double-blind, controlled study of patients with advanced FIGO stage IV ovarian cancer, the addition of either TRF-DOX or Doxorubicin to conventional chemotherapy was compared. Treatment with TRF-DOX resulted in a statistically significant increase in survival compared with Doxorubicin in patients with drug-resistant ovarian cancer. TRF-DOX leverages the targeting ability of the plasma protein, transferrin, to deliver a powerful chemotherapeutic payload to cancerous cells.
‘We are very excited to be acquiring Faulk Pharmaceutical's technology, which we see as complementary to our efforts to develop and commercialise innovative pharmaceutical approaches for the treatment of cancer,’ stated Evan Levine, Chief Executive Officer of Panther Biotechnology. ‘This acquisition is a continuation of our strategy to build a robust pipeline with novel pharmaceutical technologies that improve the efficacy and tolerability of validated therapies.’
‘Panther's expanded pipeline now includes both early and later stage drugs that address multi-billion dollar market opportunities for cancer and autoimmune diseases. The oncology assets under exploration include molecules targeting certain cancer stem cells,’ said Dr Jayesh Mehta who is a Director of Panther and Professor of Medicine at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, and heads the Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant Programme of Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
'Our decision to join Panther has been driven both by our conviction in their ability to leverage our technology platform and also by the high value we see in the TRF-DOX programme,’ stated Dr W. Page Faulk, founder of Faulk Pharmaceuticals. ‘We look forward to taking an active role in advancing TRF-DOX into new clinical trials.'
