Ribonexus signs license deal with Pierre Fabre in oncology

Biotech start-up Ribonexus (previously called Aglaia Therapeutics) and fellow France-based drugmaker Pierre Fabre today announced an exclusive license agreement on a series of Pierre Fabre patented small molecules targeting the Eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4A (eIF4A).

This target is highly expressed in a variety of solid and hematologic cancers, including melanoma, and associated with resistance to many current therapies. Inhibiting eIF4A appears therefore to be a promising therapeutic approach.

In return for the license rights granted to Ribonexus, Pierre Fabre will receive development and sales milestones payments and royalties on future sales. Financial details are not disclosed.

To foster its pre-clinical development program, Ribonexus will benefit from Pierre Fabre’s knowledge and support on the pharmacology and chemistry of the licensed molecules.

Scientific co-founders of Ribonexus, Prof Caroline Robert, head of the Dermatology Unit at Gustave Roussy Cancer Campus and Dr Stéphan Vagner, research director at Institut Curie, said: “While targeted therapies have dramatically improved cancer patient outcomes, global efficacy of these treatments decreases over time, with patients rapidly developing resistance to therapies. We aim to deliver best- and first- in class drugs that can restore sensitivity to current targeted therapies in those cancer patients.”

“We are very pleased to enable a license agreement with a young French biotech company, whose strategic direction is based on the solid and recognized oncology expertise of its founders. This cooperation was an obvious choice for Pierre Fabre as we share with Ribonexus the same ambition to bring the best innovative treatments to cancer patients. We look forward to providing Ribonexus with our compounds directed against eIF4A, an emerging target to fight cancer and resistance to targeted therapies,” added Francesco Hofmann, head of R&D at Pierre Fabre Medical Care.  

The start-up changed its name to Ribonexus, effective since November 2021, to reflect the central role of eIF4A in the translation of specific mRNAs (messenger ribonucleic acids), cancer development and resistance to targeted therapies.