On October 11, 2018 Spherix Incorporated (Nasdaq: SPEX) reported that it has entered into a merger agreement with CBM BioPharma, Inc. ("CBM") that will transform Spherix into an innovative pharmaceutical company with pioneering drugs and treatments focused on the multibillion dollar oncology therapeutics market.
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CBM is a privately held pharmaceutical company with exclusive drug development rights from world-renowned partners including Wake Forest Innovations and the University of Texas at Austin. CBM has a team of leading drug development scientists who will be joining Spherix as advisors to advance the technology. The CBM platform focuses on the treatment of numerous cancers, including acute myeloid leukemia (AML), acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), and pancreatic cancer.
Two specific proprietary drugs that are currently being researched are:
KPC34 (Acute Myeloid Leukemia and Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia)
Developed at Wake Forest School of Medicine, AML and ALL drug, KPC34, is a next generation treatment designed to overcome multiple resistance challenges observed with the current standard of care. KPC34 has also been shown to be more effective in AML relapse cases, notably increasing the lifespan of mice treated with the drug.
One competitive benefit of KPC34 includes its ability to be orally administered. This is critical for patients that are unable to tolerate repeated cycles of chemotherapy. In addition, it has served to double the mean survival time versus the current standard of care treatments in a mouse model of leukemia.
DHA-dFdC (Pancreatic Cancer Drug)
Developed at the University of Texas at Austin, DHA-dFdC has shown positive results in preclinical studies, inhibiting pancreatic tumor growth in clinically relevant transgenic mouse models. DHA-dFdC also overcomes tumor cell resistance to current chemotherapeutic drugs. Pancreatic cancer is a deadly disease that affects millions of people around the world.
The following doctors will be supporting the efforts of Spherix, after the completion of the merger:
Dr. Timothy S. Pardee, MD, PhD, an Associate Professor of Internal Medicine, Section on Hematology and Oncology and Cancer Biology and Director of Leukemia Translational Research at Wake Forest School of Medicine. Dr. Pardee stated, "I am very excited at the possibility of bringing KPC34 to the clinic in early phase clinical trials. As a physician scientist who treats acute leukemia patients, I know firsthand the clear unmet medical need for relapsed patients."
Dr. Gregory Kucera, a Professor of Internal Medicine at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine with over 28 years of research experience on novel therapeutics for cancer treatment. His laboratory has expertise in synthesizing therapeutics, lipid biochemistry, and in vitro drug testing. Dr. Kucera stated, "As a research scientist, the satisfaction of seeing a compound like KPC34 go from the laboratory to an early stage clinical trial is immense. I have a great sense of pride in knowing that the work done by our research team has produced a drug that may benefit cancer patients in the very near future."
Joining Spherix as Chief Science Officer to oversee clinical advancement of these drugs is Dr. Tom Wilkie who is an Associate Professor of Pharmacology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. He earned both his BA at the University of California Berkeley and his PhD with Richard Palmiter at UW Seattle, in biochemistry. Wilkie has published 74 primary research papers and reviews, serves on NIH, CIRM, and AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper) grant review study sections. He reviews manuscripts for multiple journals, and is Director of the first-year graduate student core course at UT Southwestern.
Dr. Wilkie stated, "I’m delighted to join Spherix as Chief Science Officer. The agreement between Spherix Incorporated and CBM BioPharma will advance the exciting potential for improving the lives of patients, family, friends, and ultimately, all of us. Proposals for the next phase of testing are underway."
Dr. Robert J. Vander Zanden, Spherix’s Chairman of the Board, stated, "Spherix is extremely pleased to announce this merger with CBM, as we believe it serves as a necessary step in our transition to a diversified biopharmaceutical company. This deal builds upon our investment in Hoth Therapeutics, which owns several exciting assets in various stages of development."
Anthony Hayes, CEO of Spherix stated, "We are very excited to welcome CBM BioPharma and its team to Spherix. It is an exciting and transformational time for the Company. Spherix will pay $16.5 million in stock for 100% of CBM by issuing 15 million Spherix shares to CBM at a fixed price of $1.10 per share. I look forward to sharing more information with our shareholders about the merger in the upcoming weeks, via investor outreach and our upcoming SEC filings."