N4 Pharma Plc Regulatory News (N4P)

11 February 2020

N4 Pharma Plc

("N4 Pharma" or the "Company")

Research Collaboration Agreement

N4 Pharma Plc (AIM: N4P), the specialist pharmaceutical company developing Nuvec®, a novel delivery system for cancer treatments and vaccines, is pleased to announce it has signed a 14-month research collaboration with Nanomerics Limited ("Nanomerics") to produce and test two candidate formulations using the Company's Nuvec® delivery system (the "Collaboration").

Nanomerics is a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the development of pharmaceutical products with enhanced bioavailability. Nanomerics' founders, Ijeoma F. Uchegbu and Andreas G. Schätzlein each hold Chairs at the UCL School of Pharmacy and are world leaders in polymeric nanotechnology, having published several books and multiple peer reviewed papers in the field. As well as being granted over twenty patents in the field of polymeric nanotechnology, Nanomerics has also won first prize for its core Molecular Envelope Technology at the Royal Society of Chemistry's Emerging Technologies Competition 2017 in the Health category. 

The Collaboration will be split into two consecutive phases, each expected to last approximately seven months. The first phase will be to develop and test the 30-day stability of four different Nuvec® formulations using both a well characterised plasmid DNA which will allow a broad comparison with existing literature and a novel small interfering RNA ("siRNA"). The second phase will involve testing the efficacy of the plasmid DNA in an in vivo antibody generation model and include the option to test the siRNA antigen in a gene silencing tumour model.

The Company has secured access to test the novel siRNA antigen by signing a material transfer agreement ("MTA") with a prestigious North American academic institute. This SiRNA inhibits the production of a protein variant implicated in both cancer and neurodegenerative pathologies.

Nigel Theobald, Chief Executive Officer of the Company, commented:

"This is an exciting opportunity for the Company to accelerate the development of its Nuvec® delivery system.

Through our collaboration with Nanomerics we will be gaining access to scientists and laboratories with considerable expertise in the field of nanotechnology delivery system development and testing.

Demonstrating 30-day stability will be a major milestone in highlighting the potential for Nuvec® to be used in a product and, by securing access to a novel siRNA, the Company will considerably broaden its data pack showing the versatility and utility of the Nuvec® system.

Phase 1 of this work will run alongside the existing planned in vitro and in vivo testing of more disperse Nuvec® formulations, further details of which were announced in the Company's interim results statement on 18 September 2019. Phase 2 will replace the previously planned efficacy work announced in the interim results. By working with Nanomerics, the Company will now be able to undertake two efficacy studies."

Ijeoma Uchegbu, Chief Technology Officer of Nanomerics, added:

"We are delighted to be working with N4 Pharma and its Nuvec® delivery system. Having reviewed their existing data we can see the potential of the technology and, together with the Company, have devised a work programme to advance Nuvec® to the next level, with the aim of truly understanding its capabilities and unlocking its potential."

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About N4 Pharma

N4 Pharma is a specialist pharmaceutical company developing a novel delivery system for vaccines and cancer treatments using its unique silica nanoparticle delivery system called Nuvec®.

N4 Pharma's business model is to partner with companies developing novel antigens for vaccines and cancer treatments to use Nuvec® as the delivery vehicle to get their antigen into cells to express the protein needed for the required immunity. As these products progress through pre clinical and clinical programs, N4 Pharma will seek to receive up front payments, milestone payments and ultimately royalty payments once products reach the market.

About Nanomerics Ltd.

Nanomerics is a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the development of pharmaceutical products with enhanced bioavailability. Biocompatible polymers are tailored to form containers that package the drug and carry it across epithelial barriers to the target site. Nanomerics' proprietary technology is based on world leading know-how and scientific leadership in polymeric nanotechnology. The company's MET delivers a step change in target tissue availability of drugs and biological APIs such as peptides across a number of epithelial barriers. The founding scientists Professor Ijeoma F. Uchegbu and Professor Andreas G. Schätzlein developed the technology at the Universities of Strathclyde and Glasgow and, latterly at the UCL School of Pharmacy.