Sareum
Holdings PLC
("Sareum" or the
"Company")
Annual General Meeting
Statement
Cambridge, UK, 19 December 2024 - Sareum Holdings plc (AIM: SAR), a clinical-stage
biotechnology company developing next-generation kinase inhibitors
for autoimmune disease and cancer, publishes an update on
operations and pipeline progress ahead of its Annual General
Meeting ("AGM") taking
place today at 10.00am GMT at 88 Wood
Street, London, EC2V 7QR.
During the AGM, the Company's Executive Chairman, Dr Stephen
Parker, will provide an update on Sareum's
progress.
The Company made good progress in
2024 with SDC-1801, its lead programme, announcing the successful
completion of its Phase 1 clinical trial, including both single
ascending dose and multiple ascending dose stages.
SDC-1801 (autoimmune
disease)
SDC-1801, Sareum's TYK2/JAK1 inhibitor,
continues to demonstrate promising therapeutic potential for a
range of autoimmune diseases with a potential initial focus on
psoriasis, an autoimmune condition affecting the skin.
As
announced on 1 July 2024, dosing in the
Phase 1 clinical trial of SDC-1801 (Trial
ID:
ACTRN12623000416695) was successfully
completed in Melbourne, Australia. This was a
randomised, placebo-controlled trial investigating the safety,
tolerability, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of an oral
formulation of SDC-1801 in healthy subjects.
The Phase 1 trial demonstrated that SDC-1801
achieved blood plasma levels significantly exceeding the predicted
therapeutic exposure, with a half-life of 17-20 hours suggesting
once-daily dosing will be possible. Importantly, no deaths or
serious adverse events due to SDC-1801 were reported, and based on
the unblinded data, the frequency of adverse events (all mild or
moderate) was similar in the active and placebo groups. No
clinically significant effects were observed on any component of
blood (including red blood cells, haemoglobin, reticulocytes,
platelets or neutrophils) which have been affected by earlier
generation JAK inhibitors.
The Clinical Study Report for the trial was
received on 18 December 2024.
The recently announced additional funding of
£3.4 million through share subscriptions and in addition the
receipt of a A$1.9 million (c. £1 million) Australian tax credit,
will support the next steps in the programme. This includes
preparing the asset for Phase 2 clinical trials by undertaking
additional drug product synthesis and toxicology studies. These
studies, expected to conclude by mid-2025, are designed to meet
regulatory requirements for longer dosing periods.
The Company has also strengthened its
intellectual property position with two key patent milestones being
achieved:
· A
Notice of Allowance from the US Patent and Trademark Office for a
patent offering substantial protection on SDC-1801's chemical
structure, its use in treating inflammatory diseases, and certain
methods of chemical synthesis. This completes protection for the
chemical structure of SDC-1801 in all of the major
territories.
· A
patent allowance in China protecting certain crystalline forms of
SDC-1801 and methods of their preparation, marking the first patent
allowance protecting crystalline forms in any territory.
SDC-1802 (cancer
immunotherapy)
Sareum continues to advance
development of SDC-1802, its second TYK2/JAK1 inhibitor designed
specifically for cancer and cancer immunotherapy
applications.
The funding secured in October 2024
will enable further translational and preclinical development
studies on SDC-1802. The Company looks forward to reporting
progress on these studies during the current period.
Licensed Programme - SRA737:
A Selective Chk1 inhibitor
SRA737 is a clinical-stage oral,
selective Checkpoint kinase 1 inhibitor that targets cancer cell
replication and DNA damage repair mechanisms.
On 2 January 2024, Sareum
announced that the Company's
co-development partner, the CRT Pioneer Fund ("CPF"), entered into
a development and commercialisation licence agreement for SRA737
(the "Licensing Agreement") with a private biopharma company based
in the United States (the "Licensee Company"). Sareum received a
US$137,500 upfront fee payable under the Licensing
Agreement.
An additional fee of up to US$1.0
million cash and 500,000 shares in the Licensee Company may be
payable to CPF, of which Sareum is entitled to a 27.5% share, upon
the sooner of 12 months following the signing of the Licensing
Agreement, or the event of the Licensee Company achieving certain
commercial and material financing objectives.
Summary
Sareum's management remains
optimistic about its strong pipeline of kinase inhibitors and their
potential to provide significant benefits to patients. The recent
funding will enable the Group to conduct further development of
SDC-1801, including the longer-term toxicology studies required to
prepare the asset for Phase 2 clinical trials and undertake further
translational and preclinical development on its SDC-1802 cancer
immunotherapy programme thereby enhancing their potential
values.
We would like to thank our
shareholders and other stakeholders for their continued
support.
AGM Webcast
A live webcast to the investment
community will be made available online via the Investor Meet
Company platform. Existing and potential investors wishing to
participate in the presentation can register
on www.investormeetcompany.com/sareum-holdings-plc/register-investor.
Questions can be submitted before the event via the Investor Meet
Company dashboard or at any time via the live presentation via the
"Ask a Question" function. Responses from the Q&A session will
be published at the earliest opportunity on the IMC
platform.
Shareholders are reminded that
attendance online will not constitute attendance at the AGM and
shareholders will not be able to vote on the day.
- Ends -
For further
information, please contact:
Sareum Holdings plc
Stephen Parker, Executive
Chairman
|
01223 497700
ir@sareum.co.uk
|
Strand Hanson Limited (Nominated
Adviser)
James Dance / James
Bellman
|
020 7409 3494
|
Oberon Capital (Joint Broker)
Mike Seabrook / Nick Lovering
Hybridan LLP (Joint Broker)
Claire Noyce
|
020 3179 5300
020 3764 2341
|
ICR Healthcare (Financial PR)
Jessica Hodgson / Davide Salvi /
Kumail Waljee
|
0203 709 5700
|
About
Sareum
Sareum Holdings (AIM:SAR) is a
clinical-stage biotechnology company
developing next generation kinase inhibitors for autoimmune disease
and cancer.
The Company is focused on developing
next generation small molecules which modify the activity of the
JAK kinase family and have best-in-class potential. Its lead
candidate, SDC-1801, simultaneously inhibits TYK2 and JAK1.
SDC-1801 is a potential treatment for a range of autoimmune
diseases, including psoriasis, and has completed Phase 1 clinical
development.
Sareum is also developing SDC-1802,
a TYK2/JAK1 inhibitor with a potential application for cancer
immunotherapy.
Sareum Holdings plc is based in
Cambridge, UK, and is listed on the AIM market of the London Stock
Exchange, trading under the ticker SAR. For further information,
please visit the Company's website at www.sareum.com