Funding
Spirogen Ltd has raised $15 million for Phase II development of its lead cancer drug, as it took back control of the programme from the French biopharmaceuticals specialist Ipsen SA of Paris.
The new investment, from the private equity firm Celtic Therapeutics Holdings, will fund the Phase II development of the drug SG2000, which is due to start a U.S. National Cancer Institute (NCI)-sponsored multi-center study in resistant and refractory ovarian cancer.
Spirogen agreed to outlicense SG2000 in 2003 when it was still in preclinical development. Since then Ipsen has performed further pre-clinical work and steered the product through Phase I. However, the company’s focus has shifted, and Spirogen has now agreed terms to take back control.
Under the new agreement, Spirogen gets full responsibility to develop the product as a single agent or in combination, and will pay Ipsen milestones and royalties. Ipsen remains a significant shareholder, with 17 per cent of Spirogen’s equity. Ipsen also granted Spirogen certain intellectual property rights on the chemistry underlying SG2000.
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