REG - Roquefort Theraptcs. - Grant of Japan MK Cell Patent

Roquefort TherapeuticsAnnouncement

23/09/2024 07:00

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RNS Number : 1376F  Roquefort Therapeutics PLC  23 September 2024

23 September 2024

Roquefort Therapeutics plc

("Roquefort Therapeutics" or the "Company")

Grant of Japan MK Cell Patent

 

Roquefort Therapeutics (LSE:ROQ), the Main Market listed biotech company
focused on developing first in class medicines in the high value and high
growth immunology and oncology markets, is pleased to announce that the Japan
Patent Office has granted the patent for its Mesodermal Killer ("MK") cell
therapy.

 

The granting of the MK cell patent by the Japan Patent Office follows the
granting of the European patent announced on 2 September 2024, thereby
expanding patent protection to the UK, EU and Japan.

 

Novel Cellular Immunology / Oncology Medicine

Mesodermal Killer cells are a novel therapeutic cell type developed from the
pioneering work of Roquefort Therapeutics' non-executive director, Nobel
Laureate, Professor Sir Martin Evans. MK cells display a novel
immunophenotype i  (#_edn1) and thus represent a new class of cell, which is
confirmed by the granting of patents by the European Patent Office and the
Japan Patent Office. The MK cells form an off-the-shelf (allogenic) cellular
immunotherapy, with both a direct effect and the ability to recruit and
activate Natural Killer ("NK") cells ii  (#_edn2) to modulate an immune
response in immunology and oncology indications.

 

Commercial Opportunity in Japan

There is a two-fold commercial significance to the granting of the MK cell
patent in Japan. Firstly, the Japan patent enables the opportunity to licence
the MK cells to Japan Big Pharma companies for the Japan market alone, where
the Roquefort Therapeutics' Board has extensive experience of working and
partnering (including with Big Pharma companies such as Daiichi Sankyo,
Astellas and Chughai).

 

Secondly, the granted Japan patent allows the Company to access an accelerated
route-to-market for promising cellular medicines in Japan. The accelerated
designation not only speeds up drug development, but also the market approval
(MAA) assessment. The attractive benefit package that this designation confers
includes market approval granted based on Phase 1 and 2 clinical trials if
safety is confirmed iii  (#_edn3) . This may significantly increase the value
of cellular medicines as this enables a cheaper and faster route to market.

 

Pre-Clinical Development

Since Roquefort Therapeutics acquired the MK cell program as part of the
Oncogeni acquisition in 2022, the Company has tested the MK cells in
combination with NK cells.  MK cells were shown to activate Natural Killer
cells and this activation produced up to a two-fold increase in NK efficacy,
indicating the potential for MK + NK combination medicines in the high value
difficult to treat immunology and oncology disease areas. The Company now
plans to complete in vivo studies in preparation for a key value inflection
point of initiating a clinical study. This clinical trial may utilise the
favourable clinical trial and tax regimes in Japan and Australia to enable
faster and cheaper routes to market.

 

Roquefort Therapeutics CEO Ajan Reginald commented:

"The granting of this Japan patent for MK cell therapy highlights both the
quality of our intellectual property and the novelty of the MK cells together
with the enhanced commercial opportunity in Japan. The granted patent creates
the opportunity for the Company to out-license the MK cell rights for the
territory of Japan to a Japanese Big Pharma company. Japan is the most
sophisticated cell therapy market, with a high number of potential partners
and an appealing accelerated pathway to market. The Roquefort Therapeutics
Board has the personal experience and a strong network from completing deals
with Japan Big Pharma. We have initiated these discussions and will update the
market in due course"

 

 

 

ENDS

Enquiries:
 Roquefort Therapeutics plc                      +44 (0)20 3918 8633
 Stephen West (Chairman) / Ajan Reginald (CEO)
 SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP (Broker)         +44 (0) 20 3470 0470

 David Hignell / Vadim Alexandre / Devik Mehta
 Buchanan (Public Relations)                     +44 (0)20 7466 5000

 Ben Romney / Jamie Hooper / George Beale
 Peak IR (Investor Relations)                    +33 (0)7 44 44 15 42

 Seb Wykeham

 

LEI: ‎254900P4SISIWOR9RH34

 

About Roquefort Therapeutics

Roquefort Therapeutics (LSE:ROQ) is a Main Market listed biotech company
developing first in class drugs in the high value and high growth immunology
and oncology markets prior to partnering or selling to big pharma.

 

Roquefort Therapeutics' portfolio consists of five novel patent-protected
pre-clinical anti-cancer medicines.  The highly complementary profile of five
best-in-class medicines consists of:

·    Midkine antibodies with significant in vivo efficacy and toxicology
studies;

·    Midkine RNA therapeutics with novel anti-cancer gene editing action;

·    Midkine mRNA therapeutics with novel anti-cancer approach;

·    STAT-6 siRNA therapeutics targeting solid tumours with
significant in vivo efficacy; and

·    MK cell therapy with direct and NK cell-mediated anti-cancer action

 

For further information on Roquefort Therapeutics,
please visit www.roquefortplc.com (http://www.roquefortplc.com/)
 and @RoquefortTherap on X (formerly Twitter).

 

 i  (#_ednref1) which is different from any other cell type including MSCs and
includes expression of CD16, CD96, CD112, CD137L, FasL, TRAIL and CD277 and
some NK cell

 ii  (#_ednref2) L. Chapman, J. Abdi, S. Galvez-Peisl, A. Keating,
Immunophenotypic and functional characterization of Mesodermal Killer (MK)
cells: a novel cell type and potential cellular therapy for cancer
Cytotherapy, Volume 22, Issue 5, Supplement, 2020, Page S121, ISSN 1465-3249,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcyt.2020.03.226.

 iii  (#_ednref3)
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14712598.2022.2093637#d1e2011
(https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14712598.2022.2093637#d1e2011)

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