On September 27, 2021 Sihuan Pharmaceutical Holdings Group Ltd., together with its subsidiaries and SignalChem Lifesciences Corporation reported that Sihuan Pharmaceutical Holdings Group Ltd subsidiary company Xuanzhu Biopharmaceutical Co., Ltd. ("Xuanzhu") and SignalChem Lifesciences Corporation ("SignalChem") have entered into an exclusive collaboration and licensing agreement for the clinical development and commercialization of SLC-391, a potent and selective AXL targeting inhibitor, in the Greater China region (Press release, Lifescience Newswire, SEP 27, 2021, View Source [SID1234590366]).
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Under the terms of the agreement, Xuanzhu will pay to SignalChem an upfront fee of thirteen million US dollars (US$13,000,000). Additional development milestones and royalties have also been committed. The exclusive rights for SLC-391 for the field of oncology is for the Greater China region (Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan).
AXL is a member of TAM (Tyro3, AXL, Mer) family of receptor tyrosine kinases. AXL along with its ligand GAS6 (growth arrest-specific gene 6) is highly expressed and activated in many malignant tumors, such as acute myeloid leukemia, kidney, pancreatic, breast, lung and ovarian cancer, etc. As one of the crucial signaling pathways promoting tumor growth and metastasis, immune escape and drug resistance, GAS6-AXL pathway is considered to be an attractive target for cancer treatment and has attracted widespread attention.
"The agreement with SignalChem will further advance Xuanzhu’s pipeline in the solid tumor and hematoma space. The results from preclinical and phase 1 clinical development demonstrated SLC-391 superiority not only as SLC-391 has prominent single-agent activities in multiple solid and hematological tumors but also can potentially be administered with a variety of drugs under development at Xuanzhu. Both parties will use their respective resources to accelerate the clinical approval of SLC-391 in China," said Ms. Xu Yanjun, Chairman of Xuanzhu. "Xuanzhu will continue to expand its efforts to develop and commercialize innovative drugs in the oncology field."
"Xuanzhu Biopharmaceutical, a subsidiary of Sihuan Pharmaceutical, is a highly innovative and progressive company," commented by Mr. Jun Yan, the Chairman and President of SignalChem, "We are very pleased to establish a partnership with Xuanzhu. This licensing agreement is of great significance for SignalChem to further validate and expand SLC-391’s clinical superiority. This agreement will accelerate SLC-391’s development timeline to reach the market and provide more effective treatment alternatives for patients with cancer." Mr. Jun Yan added, "the size of the agreement, including upfront, milestone and royalties, with Xuanzhu may be one of the largest agreements signed in Canada with a Chinese bio-pharma company for the Chinese territory rights, and we are looking forward to reaching all anticipated objectives. Furthermore, SignalChem will continue its efforts to expand and accelerate clinical development with SLC-391 for wider indications in even more geographic territories."
About SLC-391
SLC-391 is a potent, highly selective and orally bioavailable small molecule AXL inhibitor. Preclinical investigational data shows SLC-391 is a superior AXL inhibitor and has the potential to become a first-in-class inhibitor. Phase I clinical study is currently underway in Canada. SignalChem has established a collaboration with Merck (MSD) to evaluate the efficacy of SLC-391 in combination with Keytruda (pembrolizumab) for the treatment of advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). In pre-clinical studies, SLC-391 demonstrated strong efficacy as a single agent or in combination with other approved drugs in multiple animal models for cancer. SLC-391 will be developed to undisclosed cancer indications as a single agent or in combination with other therapies.