C4X Discovery signs exclusive licensing deal with Sanofi

The AIM-traded firm said that under the terms of the agreement, it would receive an upfront payment of €7m, and could receive up to a further €407m in potential development, regulatory and commercialisation milestones, of which €11m was in preclinical milestones, in addition to single-digit royalties.

Under the deal, Sanofi would develop and commercialise an oral therapy for the treatment of inflammatory diseases.

The IL-17 family of cytokines were said to be “strong inducers” of inflammation, and were implicated in a variety of autoimmune diseases including psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis.

Current treatments targeting IL-17 were monoclonal antibodies administered via an injection.

C4X said there was an “urgent need” for safe and efficacious oral small molecule therapies to increase the number of patients able to access IL-17 targeted drugs, and expand availability into new inflammatory disease indications.

Its small molecule IL-17A inhibitor programme could selectively block IL-17 activity in vivo, while maintaining molecular size of the molecule in the traditional ‘drug-like’ range suitable for oral administration.

Sanofi would continue to work with the C4X team to access its proprietary 4D ‘Conformetrix’ technology, the board said, as the programme advanced towards clinical studies.

“We are proud to be working with Sanofi to create much needed oral therapies in the underserved inflammatory disease space,” said chief executive officer Clive Dix.

“While antibody therapies have demonstrated the potential of IL-17 inhibition in the generation of highly effective treatments, the injectable route means many patients currently do not have access to the medicines that can change their lives.”

Dix said the company believed its small molecule programme had the potential to create “high value, efficacious and convenient” oral IL-17 therapeutics for a large market.

“The psoriasis market alone is estimated to be worth $24bn per annum by 20271, and when combined with Sanofi's development expertise our programme has the potential to address a number of indications.

“This is the second significant agreement for a C4X programme, and marks a major milestone for the company, not only validating the strength of our drug discovery expertise, but also our strategy to drive shareholder value through early-stage revenue generating deals.

“With Indivior progressing our molecule for opioid addiction through a phase 1 clinical trial and now our partnership with Sanofi driving potential next generation oral IL-17 therapies, we look forward with confidence to further develop our portfolio and deliver additional novel small molecule drug candidates tackling significant patient needs.”

At 0917 BST, shares in C4X Discovery Holdings were up 14.37% at 45.75p.