News of a lucrative licensing deal for UK biotech Redx Pharma (AIM: REDX) blew the roof off the company’s shares, which were up a massive 160% at 65.10 pence around midday.
Redx, which is 57.8%% owned by investment group Redmile, signed a significant out-licensing agreement for its porcupine inhibitor, RXC006, with AstraZeneca (LSE: AZN), which will take RXC006 forward into clinical development, targeting fibrotic diseases including idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF).
Porcupine inhibition is a novel anti-fibrotic approach that suppresses Wnt ligand secretion from pro-fibrotic cells. Wnt ligands are known to be strong drivers of fibrotic mechanisms and are highly expressed in diseases such as IPF. Wnt ligands regulate multiple aspects of disease biology so porcupine inhibition presents a potentially powerful anti-fibrotic approach. IPF is a life-threatening and progressive lung disease with a high mortality rate and a prognosis worse than many cancers.
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