VAL Valirx Plc

VALIRX PLC

("ValiRx" or the "Company")

Initiation of Evaluation project Agreement with Imperial College London

ValiRx plc (the "Company") (AIM: VAL), a life sciences company focusing on early-stage cancer therapeutics and women's health, is pleased to announce signature of an evaluation agreement with Imperial College London (the "Agreement"). This agreement enables ValiRx to evaluate research relating to novel therapeutic candidates for cancer treatment.

The Agreement specifically focuses on investigating a lead series of dual-kinase inhibitor candidates that show promise in reversing resistance to current standard of care therapeutics in ovarian and other types of cancer. Importantly, a similar approach has already been validated in clinical studies with other assets across a range of tumour types and it holds significant potential as a novel combination treatment.

This project builds upon previous ground-breaking research led by Dr Paula Cunnea, Group Leader at the Ovarian Cancer Action Research Centre, Division of Cancer, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London and the previous Imperial College Drug Discovery Centre.

The evaluation process for this project is expected to take approximately 12 months, with the lead series scrutinised for mechanism of action and anti-cancer activity in combination with standard of care treatments in the Inaphaea BioLabs facility and will draw upon the skills of external collaborators.  Upon the conclusion of the evaluation, if milestones are met, the project will be considered for in-licensing on pre-agreed terms. This signifies an exciting opportunity for ValiRx to further expand its portfolio of innovative cancer therapeutics.

Dr Suzy Dilly, CEO of ValiRx commented: "I'm delighted to announce the start of our second new evaluation project for 2024 with the signature of this agreement with Imperial College London.  The scientific developments in this project display a high degree of quality and innovation with potential application in an exciting area of research."

Dr Cathy Tralau-Stewart, CSO of ValiRx explains: "I am excited to initiate the Agreement with Imperial College London, in an area which I have been involved in for some time and which I believe has the potential to translate to the clinic efficiently. This evaluation agreement is a further step-forward in developing ValiRx's drug discovery pipeline. This is the third evaluation agreement signed in the last four months building a risk-balanced evaluation portfolio which includes early novel approaches for cancer and later stage pre-clinical approaches which have some clinical validation."

Dr Paula Cunnea, Advanced Research Fellow, Department of Surgery and Cancer, Imperial College London: "We are entering an exciting new phase in partnership with ValiRx to further develop our dual kinase inhibitor drug programme and unlock the real potential of these novel candidates to combat resistance and enhance therapeutic options for the treatment of ovarian cancer. Together, we will seek to deliver a clinical candidate that we hope will alleviate the suffering of women and their families from this devastating disease."

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014 as it forms part of UK Domestic Law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 ("UK MAR"). The Directors of the Company take responsibility for this announcement.

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Notes for Editors

About ValiRx

ValiRx is a life science company focused on early-stage cancer therapeutics and women's health, accelerating the translation of innovative science into impactful medicines to improve patient lives.

ValiRx provides the scientific, financial, and commercial framework for enabling rapid translation of innovative science into clinical development.

Using its extensive and proven experience in research and drug development, the team at ValiRx selects and incubates promising novel drug candidates and guides them through an optimised process of development, from pre-clinical studies to clinic and investor-ready assets.

ValiRx connects diverse disciplines across scientific, technical, and commercial domains, with the aim of achieving a more streamlined, less costly, drug development process. The team works closely with carefully selected collaborators and leverages the combined expertise required for science to advance.

Lead candidates from ValiRx's portfolio are outlicensed or partnered with investors through ValiRx subsidiary companies for further clinical development and commercialisation. 

ValiRx listed on the AIM Market of the London Stock Exchange in October 2006 and trades under the ticker symbol: VAL.

For further information, visit: www.valirx.com

About Imperial College London

Imperial College London is a global top ten university with a world-class reputation. Imperial's 22,000 students and 8,000 staff are working to solve the biggest challenges in science, medicine, engineering and business.

Imperial ranks sixth in the 2024 QS World University Rankings and eighth in the 2024 Times Higher Education World University Rankings. The 2021 Research Excellence Framework (REF) found that it has a greater proportion of world-leading research than any other UK university. It also received a Gold Award in the 2023 Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF). Imperial was named University of the Year in the Daily Mail University Guide 2024, University of the Year for Graduate Employment in The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2024, and awarded a Queen's Anniversary Prize for its COVID-19 response.

https://www.imperial.ac.uk/

Cautionary statement

Certain statements made in this announcement are forward-looking statements. Such statements are based on current expectations and assumptions and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from any expected future events or results expressed or implied in these forward-looking statements. Persons receiving this announcement should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Unless otherwise required by applicable law, regulation or accounting standard, the Company does not undertake to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.