ValiRx Plc has announced a significant expansion of its precision oncology capabilities through two strategic agreements between its subsidiary Inaphaea BioLabs and UK-based Dominion Biotech Ltd. The partnerships center on commercializing personalized cancer screening technology and exploring drug repurposing opportunities using patient-derived cell models.
PredictRx Platform Commercialization
The cornerstone of the collaboration is an exclusive licensing agreement for Inaphaea's PredictRx platform, a personalized cancer screening service that processes patient tumor samples into Patient Derived Cells (PDCs) for comprehensive drug combination screening. The platform aims to determine optimal chemotherapy treatment protocols for individual patients before therapy begins.
Under the two-year agreement with annual renewal options, Inaphaea will receive 50% of global net revenues generated from the PredictRx service offered by Dominion. Both companies will share ownership of any new Patient Derived Cells developed through the collaboration. The agreement includes buyout provisions allowing either party to acquire the other's rights after 18 months, with terms based on a multiple of trailing net revenue.
Mark Eccleston, CEO of ValiRx, emphasized the platform's clinical significance: "PredictRx is a pioneering, in-vitro approach for predicting drug sensitivity for cancer therapies at the individual patient level based on analysis of the patient's own cancer cells. This can deliver significant benefit by identifying the most effective treatment options leading to a truly personalised approach to therapy which ultimately should deliver improved outcomes for patients."
Anthony Holmes, CEO of Dominion, highlighted the platform's potential to transform cancer treatment: "This innovative personalised cancer screening service represents a significant advancement in precision oncology - using a patient's own cancer cells to identify the most effective treatment options before therapy begins. By leveraging our established network of oncologists and patient-derived cell expertise, we can now offer clinicians and patients a powerful tool to optimise treatment decisions from day one."
Drug Repurposing Initiative
The partnership extends beyond the PredictRx platform to include a drug repurposing collaboration focused on identifying new cancer applications for existing FDA-approved compounds. Inaphaea will share access to results from a proprietary screen of approximately 3,000 FDA-approved drugs tested against a panel of Patient Derived Cells.
The screened drugs were originally approved for non-cancer applications, and Dominion will analyze the data to identify potential cancer therapeutic opportunities. The company will conduct routine analysis to validate promising candidates at its own expense, with both parties sharing costs for any additional in-depth studies.
All intellectual property arising from the analysis will be jointly owned, with both companies sharing equally in filing, prosecution, and maintenance costs for any patents related to repurposed drugs. Revenue from commercializing new assets will be equally divided after directly attributable costs, whether through partnerships with original drug owners or alternative companies interested in the repurposed applications.
Strategic Implications
The agreements represent ValiRx's strategy to monetize its biobank and patient-derived cell models while establishing commercial validation for its precision oncology platforms. Although initial revenues are expected to be modest, the arrangements demonstrate the commercial viability of ValiRx's technology and establish a framework for future valuation.
Eccleston noted the value creation potential: "This is an excellent opportunity to unlock additional value from existing data sets acquired with our biobank. We believe there could be significant untapped potential for drug repurposing within this data set which can be realised at a minimal cost by working with our new partner, Dominion."
Holmes emphasized the accelerated development potential: "By analysing Inaphaea's extensive drug screening database against patient-derived cancer models, we aim to identify novel cancer applications for established compounds. This approach could significantly accelerate the development timeline for new cancer treatments, as these drugs have already cleared important safety hurdles."
The collaboration positions both companies to leverage existing approved drugs with validated safety profiles, potentially reducing development timelines and costs compared to novel drug development while providing cancer patients with new treatment options.
