Physiomics and ValiRx enter new collaboration deal

Oncology consulting company Physiomics has entered into a new agreement with clinical-stage drug development company ValiRx, it announced on Monday, superseding the agreement between the two companies, which was announced in September 2011.

The AIM-traded firm said that under the terms of the new deal, ValiRx would benefit from Physiomics' experience in modelling the effects of prostate cancer treatment, as well the use of the latest version of its ‘Virtual Tumour’ technology, which would be applied to derive information from the additional data generated by the completed clinical trial of ‘VAL201’.

Physiomics would also support ValiRx in modelling the use of the VAL201 peptide in endometriosis and coronavirus.

The company said it would receive a fee, capped at £6m, of 6% of any future net revenues that could be received by ValiRx relating to its commercialisation of VAL201 and its derivatives in any indication, including prostate cancer, endometriosis and treatment for coronavirus infection.

Eligibility for part of the fee would be conditional on completion of an agreed programme of work by Physiomics, building on the work already carried out under the 2011 agreement.

That programme of work would start on 15 February, and was required to be completed by 15 November.

In recognition of the collaborative nature of the new agreement, Physiomics said it would also be offered a seat on the ValiRx scientific advisory board.

“Enhancing the scientific understanding of our results using cutting edge technology ensures we maximise the value of the data we have collected,” said ValiRx chief executive officer Dr Suzy Dilly.

“This will help in the design and execution of future clinical trials and support discussions with potential new partners.

“We expect that outputs from the application of Physiomics' technology will be incorporated into scientific publications presenting the results from the VAL201 clinical trial.”

Dr Jim Millen, chief executive officer of Physiomics, added that the company was “delighted” to be working with ValiRx on a programme to “replace and extend” the one originally agreed in 2011.

“Since the time of the original agreement, Physiomics has gained significant additional experience in the modelling of prostate and other cancers and we will be aiming to generate new insights which can improve development outcomes.”

At 1537 GMT, shares in Physiomics were down 2.41% at 8.2p, while those in ValiRx were 2.63% lower at 23.12p.