SalvaRx Group plc Investment in Rift Biotherapeutics (8786Z)
March 20 2017 - 3:01AM
UK Regulatory
TIDMSALV
RNS Number : 8786Z
SalvaRx Group plc
20 March 2017
20 March 2017
SalvaRx Group PLC
Investment in Rift Biotherapeutics Inc.
SalvaRx Group PLC is pleased to announce that its subsidiary,
SalvaRx Limited ("SalvaRx"), has entered into an agreement to
invest in Rift Biotherapeutics Inc. ("Rift"), a private,
Delaware-domiciled biotechnology company focused on the development
of antibodies for use in oncology.
Under the terms of the agreement, SalvaRx will invest
US$1,000,000 for an initial holding of approximately 30% (including
new shares issued on the conversion of a US$90,000 convertible loan
already provided to Rift). Subject to Rift achieving certain
development milestones with this initial funding, SalvaRx has the
option to invest up to an additional US$1,500,000 at the same
valuation and to acquire all outstanding shares of Rift in exchange
for new shares in SalvaRx on the same basis. The initial investment
has been funded from existing cash resources.
Rift, an early stage research and development company, was
founded in 2015 in order to discover and develop first-in-class
antibodies implicated in the inflammatory tumour and tumour
infiltrating immune cells microenvironment. Rift has a small lab
space in San Diego, California and has minimal net assets. Rift
recently won the Boehringer Ingelheim Innovation prize, entitling
it to additional lab space at BioLabs San Diego, a Southern
California based incubator for biotech start-ups.
Ian Walters, CEO of SalvaRx remarked, "We are excited to
announce our investment into Rift which is our fourth portfolio
company. Founders Drs. Miguel de los Rios, Cory Bentley and their
team have strong protein engineering capabilities and have
discovered several candidate antibodies to novel immune check point
targets. Our collaboration with Rift will provide them with
financing to finish preclinical development and will augment their
team with SalvaRx's clinical development expertise."
Dr. Miguel de los Rios, Rift's founder and CEO, commented, "Our
novel non T-cell based immunotherapy targets offer complementary
approaches to the current standard of care in immuno-oncology. We
are researching the anti-tumour activity of our immunotherapy and
potential utility with standard of care agents such as Opdivo(R),
Keytruda(R), or Tecentriq(R). We are excited to work with SalvaRx
to help understand and realise the potential of these
antibodies."
Dr. de los Rios will be joined on Rift's board of directors by
Drs. Ian Walters and Briggs Morrison. Briggs W. Morrison, M.D. is
the CEO of Syndax (SNDX:NASDAQ) and a managing director of MPM
Capital, a healthcare-focused venture capital firm. Previously, Dr.
Morrison served as Executive Vice President, Global Medicines
Development and Chief Medical Officer at AstraZeneca, as Head,
Medical Affairs, Safety and Regulatory Affairs for Pfizer's human
health business, and also as Vice President, Clinical Sciences,
Oncology, at Merck, responsible for clinical development of all
novel anti-cancer drugs. Dr. Morrison received a B.S. in biology
from Georgetown University and an M.D. from the University of
Connecticut.
About SalvaRx
SalvaRx was founded in 2014 to develop therapies within the
rapidly growing immuno-oncology market, which uses treatments
designed to boost the body's natural defences to fight the cancer.
Immuno-oncology therapy is a fast growing and new therapeutic area,
a market expected to grow to $80 billion worldwide by 2020 (Global
& USA Cancer Immunotherapy Market Analysis 2020). SalvaRx
Limited is majority owned by SalvaRx Group PLC.
SalvaRx's investment in Rift expands its portfolio of cancer
immunotherapy companies, which currently includes iOx Therapeutics,
a University of Oxford spin-out company developing products that
stimulate Natural Killer T-Cells, Intensity Therapeutics, a US
based biotechnology company developing novel intratumoral therapies
that promote antigen presentation and Nekonal Oncology, a BVI
company developing novel immune-oncology antibodies.
SalvaRx's strategy is to invest in and acquire a portfolio of
companies involved in novel cancer immunotherapies and develop them
up to clinical proof of concept. SalvaRx provides portfolio
companies with operational support in addition to capital, either
by managing its portfolio companies directly or augmenting an
existing team. SalvaRx's management team have a proven track record
of discovering and commercialising drugs in the area of cancer
immunotherapy with Bristol-Myers Squibb and Johnson & Johnson.
The team is supported by an extended network of senior academic and
industry executives to promote commercial and scientific outcomes,
including licensing and partnering discussions.
-Ends-
SalvaRx Group PLC
Ian Walters (Chief Executive) Tel: +1 203 441
5451
Northland Capital Partners Limited Tel: +44 (0) 20
Nominated Adviser and Broker 3861 6625
Matthew Johnson / Edward Hutton
(Corporate Finance)
John Howes (Corporate Broking)
Peterhouse Corporate Finance Limited Tel: +44 (0) 20
Joint Broker 7469 0932
Lucy Williams / Duncan Vasey
For more information please visit: www.salvarx.io
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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