Rexahn Pharmaceuticals (NYSE MKT: RNN) announced today that Teva
Pharmaceutical Industries has decided, for strategic reasons, not to
exercise its option to license RX-3117 from Rexahn. As a result, the
Research and Exclusive License Option (RELO) Agreement for RX-3117
between Rexahn and Teva has been terminated and Rexahn will retain all
the global development and commercialization rights to RX-3117, a novel
DNA and RNA synthesis inhibitor for the treatment of solid cancer tumors.
In July 2013, pursuant to the RELO agreement, Teva submitted an
Investigational New Drug (IND) application to the US Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) for RX-3117 which has now cleared the FDA’s 30 day
review period. Under the RELO agreement, Teva had 45 days from the
filing of the IND to exercise the option to exclusively license RX-3117.
According to Teva, "RX-3117 appears to have potential in various
indications, but does not align with Teva’s new Oncology strategy."
Rexahn will continue to advance the clinical development of RX-3117 and
expects to finalize the timeline for initiating a Phase I clinical study
in cancer patients within the next three months.
"Rexahn looks forward to advancing the clinical development of RX-3117,"
Peter D. Suzdak, Ph.D., Rexahn’s Chief Executive Officer commented.
"RX-3117 has already demonstrated safety and oral bioavailability in
cancer patients, and has the potential to treat a wide variety of solid
cancer tumors. We will explore potential partnering opportunities with
oncology focused pharmaceutical companies for this compound, as we
continue to make progress in the clinical development of RX-3117."
RX-3117 is a novel small molecule anti-metabolite compound that inhibits
DNA and RNA synthesis and induces apoptotic cell death of tumor cells.
Preclinical studies have shown RX-3117 to be effective in both
inhibiting the growth of various human cancer xenograft models,
including colon, lung, renal and pancreatic, as well as overcoming
chemotherapeutic drug resistance. In August 2012, Rexahn reported the
completion of an exploratory Phase I clinical trial of RX-3117 in cancer
patients conducted in Europe. The clinical trial demonstrated that
RX-3117 is orally bioavailable with no adverse events reported over the
dose range tested.
About Rexahn Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Rexahn Pharmaceuticals is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company
dedicated to developing best-in-class therapeutics for the treatment of
cancer. Rexahn currently has three clinical stage oncology candidates,
Archexin®, RX-3117, and SupinoxinTM (RX-5902) and
a robust pipeline of preclinical compounds to treat multiple types of
cancer. Rexahn has also developed proprietary drug discovery platform
technologies in the areas of Nano-Polymer-Drug Conjugate Systems
(NPDCS), nano-medicines, 3D-GOLD, and TIMES. For more information,
please visit www.rexahn.com.
Safe Harbor
To the extent any statements made in this press release deal with
information that is not historical, these are forward-looking statements
under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such
statements include, but are not limited to, statements about Rexahn’s
plans, objectives, expectations and intentions with respect to future
operations and products and other statements identified by words such as
“will,” “potential,” “could,” “can,” “believe,” “intends,” “continue,”
“plans,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “estimates,” “may,” other words of
similar meaning or the use of future dates. Forward-looking statements
by their nature address matters that are, to different degrees,
uncertain. Uncertainties and risks may cause Rexahn’s actual results to
be materially different than those expressed in or implied by Rexahn’s
forward-looking statements. For Rexahn, particular uncertainties and
risks include, among others, the difficulty of developing pharmaceutical
products, obtaining regulatory and other approvals and achieving market
acceptance; the marketing success of Rexahn’s licensees or sublicensees;
the success of clinical testing; and Rexahn’s need for and ability to
obtain additional financing. More detailed information on these and
additional factors that could affect Rexahn’s actual results are
described in Rexahn’s filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission, including its most recent annual report on Form 10-K and
subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. All forward-looking
statements in this news release speak only as of the date of this news
release. Rexahn undertakes no obligation to update or revise any
forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise.
Copyright Business Wire 2013