Scottish Biotech NuCana Expects To Raise $115M In A Nasdaq IPO
The UK-based biopharmaceutical firm, NuCana, anticipates hauling $115 million in a Nasdaq IPO to fund late-phase trials of its reformulated cancer candidates, including a version of Eli Lilly’s Gemzar it hopes will supplant the veteran chemotherapy in some indications.
NuCana develops cancer chemotherapy agents based on its ProTide technology that it says makes them more effective and safer.
Its lead candidates are Acelarin, derived from gemcitabine, and NUC-3373, derived from 5-fluorouracil. Acelarin is currently being tested in four clinical trials for ovarian, biliary and pancreatic cancer, in which it has shown a better anti-cancer potential than gemcitabine. With the cash raised, the company intends to complete Phase II trials and initiate Phase III with Acelarin and start Phase I with two other candidates in the pipeline.
NUC-3373, a modified version of 5-fluorouracil, sold as Adrucil by Pfizer, has already started Phase I. The third candidate, NUC-7738, is a version of cordycepin, a drug that has not yet been approved as a chemo drug.
Two or more lines of Acelarin triggered partial responses in five of the 49 advanced solid tumor patients evaluated in phase 1. About four-fifths of subjects had either a partial response or
stable disease, a result NuCana took heart from given the patients were progressing after multiple lines of treatment before starting on Acelarin. NuCana plans to report full results from the phase 1b later this year.The biopharma is also aiming to start positioning NUC-3373 as an improvement on 5-FU with the publication of interim phase 1 solid tumor data later this year, and, more conclusively, by testing the candidate in phase 3 colorectal cancer and phase 2 breast cancer trials in 2018.
