Wrocław, Poland, 24 November 2022 r. – Captor Therapeutics S.A. (WSE:CTX), a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the development of Targeted Protein Degradation (TPD)-based drugs for the treatment for cancer and autoimmune diseases, reports its financial results for the third quarter of 2022 and provides a business update. The Company has made further substantial progress in the development of its lead programs throughout the period, most notably CT-01, with the selection of a drug candidate and the initiation of the necessary steps to generate the data required to commence clinical trials in patients. Following the reporting period, the Company has announced that it signed a drug discovery collaboration with Japanese pharmaceutical company Ono Pharmaceutical that could generate up to €197 million in an upfront payment, R&D funding and milestones, in addition to royalties on global sales.
CT-01 is Captor’s lead asset and is being developed as a treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma (a form of liver cancer). Earlier pre-clinical studies allowed Captor to select the best drug candidate to progress to the clinic. Captor has consequently initiated the necessary steps with this drug candidate to generate the data required to submit a Clinical Trial Authorization (CTA) and Investigational New Drug (IND) Application. These activities include larger scale manufacturing, toxicological testing and additional in-vivo efficacy testing, the latter confirming in animal models that the drug candidate causes strong tumor regression. Captor remains on track to initiate a clinical trial in 2023.
Captor continued to strengthen its partnership activities and announced an agreement with Ono Pharmaceutical Co. ltd. (which took place after the end of the reported period) to develop small-molecule compounds capable of degrading a selected molecular target, primarily for application in neurodegenerative diseases for which there is currently no effective therapy. The market for neurodegenerative diseases (i.e., a group of conditions that include, among others, Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson's disease) is estimated to be worth tens of billions of dollars in annual sales and is growing steadily due to the aging of the population in most developed countries.
In addition to providing Captor with an upfront payment, R&D funding and potential milestones that could reach up to €197 million, in addition to royalties on sales, this agreement with Ono Pharmaceutical is a strong endorsement of Captor’s research and development capabilities. It is also a major event for the TPD field in that it is an early example of a CNS focused collaboration and indicates the wider field of therapeutic applications where TPD could be used. This discovery stage partnership is one of the larger ever signed in the Polish biotechnology market.
“The last few months have brought us closer to a significant breakthrough in the research and development of our own projects. We have also started to monetize interest in our platforms and technology from big-pharma players, as evidenced by the agreement signed with Ono Pharmaceutical. Captor is financially and technologically ready to enter its next chapter of growth. Not only do we have the capabilities to move CT-01 into the clinic and to progress our internal pipeline through pre-clinical development, but our latest advances in preclinical capabilities provide us with the necessary bandwidth to enter new strategic partnerships," said Dr. Michał Walczak, Board Member and Chief Scientific Officer of Captor Therapeutics.
In the third quarter of 2022, Captor generated PLN 9,175 thousand in revenue, including PLN 5,171 thousand from non-dilutive grant funding and PLN 1,110 thousand from the technology collaboration with Sosei Heptares, which aims to discover new degraders against a G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) target.
“The development path of Captor Therapeutics definitely fits the sought-after growth model of a biotech company. Starting as a small startup, then progressing through our first collaboration, a strong IPO and subsequently signing our largest partnership so far with Ono. We envision even more for our company, and we see real potential for strong growth, as does the TPD sector as a whole and our peer companies, such as MonterRosa Therapeutics and the more advanced Nurix, C4 Therapeutics, Kymera and Arvinas. The partnership with Ono is a clear signal to the market that validates not only the quality of our Optigrade platform, but also demonstrates our team's expertise in TPD technology, and how the field of application for TPD goes well beyond oncology and auto-immune diseases," said Dr. Tom Shepherd, Board Member and CEO of Captor Therapeutics.
About Captor Therapeutics
Captor Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to using targeted protein degradation (TPD) technology to discover and develop breakthrough drugs for diseases deemed as medically uncurable. TPD is a revolutionary approach to developing new drugs that can target new molecular targets considered "untreatable" using classical drug development methods and provide additional treatment options for diseases where existing drugs do not provide optimal medical benefit. Captor is currently developing treatments for undertreated serious conditions, including malignancies and autoimmune diseases.
For more information on Captor Therapeutics, visit: http://www.captortherapeutics.com
LinkedIn: @CaptorTherapeutics
Twitter: @CaptorTherapeu1
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