VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Feb. 03, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- WPD Pharmaceuticals Inc. (CSE: WBIO)(FSE: 8SV1) (the “Company” or “WPD”), a clinical stage pharmaceutical company, provides an update on the completed acquisition of exclusive sublicenses for two drug candidates from Moleculin Biotech, Inc. a leading global pharmaceuticals company focused on the treatment of highly resistant cancers. The acquisitions bring the total development funding spent on WPD’s portfolio of drugs under license to over USD$100 million. The territory covered by the patents includes 30 countries in Europe and Asia, including Russia.
The licensed drug candidates, WP1122 and WP1732 were developed at University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, a leading comprehensive cancer center located in Houston, TX. Both drug candidates are considered promising potential therapies for treating pancreatic cancer, among other highly resistant tumors.
WP1732 appears capable of a disproportionately high accumulation in the pancreas, making it a promising candidate for treating pancreatic cancer. WP1122 is capable of inhibiting glycolysis, a process by which cells convert glucose into energy and one on which many tumor cells are known to be much more dependent for their survival than normal cells. In particular, pancreatic cancer is known to be highly dependent on glycolysis.
Mariusz Olejniczak, CEO of WPD commented, “The acquisition of these two pancreatic cancer drug candidates brings the total development funding for our license portfolio to over USD$100 million. Working with one of the best comprehensive cancer centers in North America, and a team of world class scientists continues to demonstrate our determination to develop novel treatments for cancer. The acquisitions are an important step for WPD, and we are focused on developing our portfolio of eight drugs across five different indications.”
About WPD Pharmaceuticals
WPD is a biotechnology research and development company with a focus on oncology, namely research and development of medicinal products involving biological compounds and small molecules. WPD has 10 novel drug candidates with 5 that are in clinical development stage and 5 in pre-clinical development. These drug candidates were researched at institutions including MD Anderson Cancer Center, Mayo Clinic and Emory University, and WPD currently has ongoing collaborations with Wake Forest University and leading hospitals and academic centers in Poland.
WPD has entered into license agreements with Wake Forest University Health Sciences and sublicense agreements with Moleculin Biotech Inc. and CNS Pharmaceuticals, Inc., respectively, each of which grant WPD an exclusive, royalty-bearing sublicense to certain technologies of the licensor. Such agreements provide WPD with certain research, development, manufacturing and sales rights, among other things.
On Behalf of the Board
‘Mariusz Olejniczak’
Mariusz Olejniczak
CEO, WDP Pharmaceuticals
Contact:
Investor Relations
Email: investors@wpdpharmaceuticals.com
Tel: 604-428-7050
Web: www.wpdpharmaceuticals.com
Cautionary Statements:
Investors are cautioned that, except as disclosed in the Company’s CSE listing statement, prepared in accordance with the policies of the CSE, any information released or received with respect to the transaction may not be accurate or complete and should not be relied upon. Trading in the securities of the Company should be considered highly speculative.
Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
This press release contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that contemplate activities, events or developments that the Company anticipates will or may occur in the future. Forward-looking statements in this press release include that patents received will provide exclusivity and IP protection, and that WPD’s drugs could be developed into novel treatments for cancer. These forward-looking statements reflect the Company’s current expectations based on information currently available to management and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that may cause outcomes to differ materially from those projected. Factors which may prevent the forward looking statement from being realized is that competitors or others may successfully challenge a granted patent and the patent could be rendered void; that we are unable to raise sufficient funding for our research; that our drugs don’t provide positive treatment, or if they do, the side effects are damaging; competitors may develop better or cheaper drugs; and we may be unable to obtain regulatory approval for any drugs we develop. Readers should refer to the risk disclosure included from time-to-time in the documents the Company files on SEDAR, available at www.sedar.com. Although the Company believes that the assumptions inherent in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, they are not guarantees of future performance and, accordingly, they should not be relied upon and there can be no assurance that any of them will prove to be accurate. Finally, these forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this press release and the Company assumes no obligation to update them except as required by applicable law.