ValiRx pulls out of University of Barcelona collaboration

(Sharecast News) - ValiRx said in an update on Thursday that it has concluded its evaluation project with the University of Barcelona, focussed on early-stage cancer therapeutics targeting the 'KRAS2' series of drug candidates.

The AIM-traded firm said that despite promising initial results from a range of in-silico and in-vitro tests conducted both as a monotherapy and in combination with standard chemotherapy agents, it had decided to discontinue its involvement in the project.

It said the collaboration, initiated in June last year, involved expanding the series of KRAS2 molecules through in-silico studies, followed by synthesis and testing at ValiRx's laboratory partner, Inaphaea BioLabs.

While the development programme showed potential, it remained at an early stage, with ValiRx opting to return the project to the university for further development without any additional financial commitment.

As part of the decision, the current collaboration agreement was terminated, and responsibility for maintaining the intellectual property would revert to the University of Barcelona.

The strategic move would allow ValiRx to focus its resources on other projects within its pipeline, while the university researchers continued to explore the therapeutic potential of the KRAS2 series.

"Working alongside the University of Barcelona team on this project has been an engaging experience, and although we are not in a position to progress with this lead series of molecules at this stage, we look forward to retaining close contact with the team at Barcelona to hear further updates on these and other projects which could lead to future agreements," said chief executive officer Mark Eccleston.

At 0953 BST, shares in ValiRx were down 6.17% at 1.69p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.