Tiziana Life Sciences PLC Tiziana Life Sciences in-licenses NI-1201 (1265T)
January 03 2017 - 2:00AM
UK Regulatory
TIDMTILS
RNS Number : 1265T
Tiziana Life Sciences PLC
03 January 2017
Tiziana Life Sciences PLC
("Tiziana" or the "Company")
Tiziana Life Sciences in-licenses NI-1201, a fully human
anti-IL-6R monoclonal antibody
Exclusive world-wide license expands therapeutic pipeline in key
immunological areas
London, 3 January 2017 - Tiziana Life Sciences plc (AIM: TILS,
the "Company"), a clinical stage biotechnology company developing
targeted drugs for cancer, autoimmune and inflammatory diseases,
announced the acquisition of an exclusive world-wide license for
NI-1201, a fully human anti-interleukin-6 receptor (IL-6R)
monoclonal antibody (mAb), from Novimmune SA. In exchange for the
exclusive license from Novimmune the Company agreed to an upfront
cash payment, milestone payments, and a royalty on future
sales.
Monoclonal antibodies against IL-6R have been explored as
potential drugs to treat inflammation in the past. NI-1201's unique
mechanism, however, has the potential to considerably increase
anti-inflammatory activity as well as complementing the Company's
program on foralumab (NI-0401), a fully human oral anti-CD3
mAb.
"We view NI-1201 as a potential game-changer for addressing the
high unmet need of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases" commented
Gabriele Cerrone, Chairman of Tiziana Life Sciences. "The
acquisition of NI-1201 not only strengthens our business strategy
of developing novel fully human mAbs to treat life-threatening
inflammatory diseases such as non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH)
and rheumatoid arthritis, but expands our potential to leverage the
pioneering work we are doing with foralumab, the oral anti-CD3 mAb
to treat autoimmune and inflammatory diseases."
"The acquisition of NI-1201 is both strategic and very exciting
for Tiziana Life Sciences because a fully human anti-IL-6R mAb
perfectly complements foralumab, the Company's fully human oral
anti-CD3 mAb which is being explored for treatment of NASH and type
2 diabetes," said Professor Howard Weiner, a member of Tiziana Life
Sciences' Scientific Advisory Board. "It is known that dampening
inflammatory signals driven by IL-6 enhances the induction of the
regulatory mechanism induced by anti-CD3 mAb's (Faria AM and Weiner
HL. Oral tolerance. Immunol Rev. 2005; 206:232-59)."
About anti-IL6R (NI-1201)
A key driver of chronic inflammation is excessive production of
IL-6 and its receptor IL-6R, both of which are responsible for
inducing inflammatory responses. NI-1201, a fully human anti-IL-6R
mAb, differs from other anti-IL-6R mAb's such as tocilizumab
(Actemra, Hoffmann-La Roche), which exerts its pro-inflammatory
effects predominantly through binding to membrane-bound IL-6R, in
that NI-1201 acts not only on membrane-bound IL-6R, but also on
soluble IL-6R, and is also able to deplete circulating levels of
IL-6 in blood.
About Professor Weiner
Howard L. Weiner M.D. is the Robert L. Kroc Professor of
Neurology at the Harvard Medical School and Director and Founder of
the Partners Multiple Sclerosis Center and Co-Director of the Ann
Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases at Brigham & Women's
Hospital in Boston. He has pioneered immunotherapy in multiple
sclerosis, and has investigated immune mechanisms in nervous system
diseases including Alzheimer's disease, amyotrophic lateral
sclerosis, stroke and brain tumours. He has also pioneered
investigation of the mucosal immune system for the treatment of
autoimmune and other diseases.
About Tiziana Life Sciences
Tiziana Life Sciences plc is a UK biotechnology company that
focuses on the discovery and development of novel molecules that
treat human disease in oncology and immunology.
The Company is focused on its lead compound, milciclib, a
molecule which blocks the action of specific enzymes called
cyclin-dependent kinases (CDK) involved in cell division as well as
a number of other protein kinases. Milciclib is currently
completing phase II clinical trials for epithelial thymic carcinoma
and/or thymoma in patients previously treated with chemotherapy and
has filed an IND to enroll patients in an exploratory trial in
Hepatic Cellular Carcinoma (HCC).
The Company is also in clinical development of foralumab.
Foralumab is the only fully human engineered anti-human CD3
antibody in clinical development. This phase II compound has
potential application in a wide range of autoimmune and
inflammatory diseases, such as ulcerative colitis, multiple
sclerosis, type-1 diabetes (T1D), inflammatory bowel disease (IBD),
psoriasis and rheumatoid arthritis, where modulation of a T-cell
response is desirable.
Tiziana Life Sciences' clinical development teams are working on
its Bcl-3 candidate; which has a prominent role in the metastasis
of mammary cancers, and has elucidated the mechanism of Bcl-3
action to be a regulator of cancer cell motility and has also
determined that Bcl-3 inhibition suppresses cell motility in
triple-negative, HER-2-positive PR- and ER-positive breast cancer
sub-types, suggesting that Bcl-3 may be a master regulator of this
metastatic property not only in aggressive breast cancers, but
across the clinical spectrum of breast disease. The Company is
preparing the IND package with the intention of progressing to
clinical trials early 2017.
For more information go to
http://www.tizianalifesciences.com
Contacts
Tiziana Life Sciences plc
Gabriele Cerrone, Chairman and founder +44 (0)20 7493 2853
Cairn Financial Advisers LLP (Nominated adviser)
Liam Murray +44 (0)20 7148 7900
Beaufort Securities Limited (Broker)
Saif Janjua +44 (0)20 7382 8300
FTI Consulting
Simon Conway / Natalie Garland-Collins +44 (0)20 3727 1000
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
MSCUUSARBWAARUR
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 03, 2017 02:00 ET (07:00 GMT)
Tiziana Life Sciences (LSE:TILS)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2024 to Apr 2024
Tiziana Life Sciences (LSE:TILS)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2023 to Apr 2024