Evgen Pharma and King’s collaborate to advance therapy for ischaemic stroke

Evgen Pharma, a clinical-stage drug development company, has announced its collaboration with King’s College London to advance its lead product candidate as a therapy for ischaemic stroke.

The initial aim of the collaboration will be to test Evgen Pharma’s lead product candidate, SFX-01, at various doses in highly reproducible models of ischaemic stroke to build a clinical-trial enabling data package. This part of the programme will be seed-funded by Evgen Pharma and is expected to take about nine months to complete.

Previous work by scientists at King’s, funded by the British Heart Foundation (BHF), has shown the potential of the active principle in SFX-01, sulforaphane, to minimise brain injury and subsequent motor deficits in highly reproducible models of ischaemic stroke.

If data from this programme of work is promising, the company will provide quantities of its lead product candidate to King’s, which will lead a potential grant-funded clinical trial. Evgen Pharma is already progressing the product in two Phase II trials for advanced breast cancer and a rare type of stroke called subarachnoid haemorrhage.

As part of the collaboration agreement, Evgen Pharma will have first refusal to an exclusive licence to all data and intellectual property from the trial to be led by King’s on fair commercial terms to be negotiated and duly recognising the respective investments of all parties.

“We are delighted to be collaborating with Evgen Pharma on this exciting project,” stated Giovanni Mann, professor of Vascular Physiology at King’s. “We have previously had grant support from the BHF to test sulforaphane in laboratory models of ischaemic stroke and produced compelling data. However, sulforaphane is not a practical pharmaceutical product as it is highly unstable. With SFX-01, a stable pharmaceutical version of sulforaphane, we are now able to consider a clinical trial which could start in early 2019.”

Professor Jeremy Pearson, associate medical director at the BHF, said: “Sulforaphane has shown some exciting potential in reducing the damage of a stroke and this collaboration takes a further step towards clinical trials. The translation of our research towards clinical benefit is a prime consideration, and this is a good example of how BHF funding of preclinical science has led to commercial investment to accelerate translation.”

“King’s College London has world-renowned research and clinical capabilities in stroke and approached us with great enthusiasm and belief in the potential of SFX-01,” added Steve Franklin, CEO of Evgen Pharma. “We already have a core clinical programme in a rare type of stroke — subarachnoid haemorrhage — and so supporting this potential broader application in ischaemic stroke is a good strategic fit. We were attracted not just to the research capability but by the quality of the relationships that King’s has with the kind of major charities that could support a future clinical programme.”