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BIRMINGHAM, Ala., Sept. 13 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Southern Research Institute today announced that it has licensed the rights to 4'-Thio-Ara-C, also known as SR9025, to Virium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. To date, six of Southern Research's anti-cancer drugs have received FDA approval and are on the market. Six others, including 4'-Thio-Ara-C, are in late stage preclinical testing or in early clinical trials.
(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070913/DCTH022 )
"Southern Research's agreement with Virium helps bring our work one step closer to the patients we hope to help. This is the first anti-cancer compound to be licensed after the completion of early clinical trials and we are eager to see it move through the pipeline," said John A. "Jack" Secrist, III, Ph.D., president and CEO of Southern Research. "We appreciate being able to work with a company when the success of our drug candidate is important to the success of the company."
The 4'-Thio-Ara-C compound, now registered to Virium as VP700, has shown activity against certain types of leukemia and autoimmune diseases. It is a third generation, novel nucleoside analog that has already completed two phase I trials.
"Southern Research's prestigious cancer program and international track record are well known and respected in the industry. The opportunity to work with a compound designed and developed by researchers at Southern Research is very exciting," said James Pachence, Ph.D., Virium Pharmaceuticals president and CEO. "Our strategy is to focus on targets that play key roles in diseases, and which can potentially be exploited in multiple indications beyond oncology. In addition to VP700, we are currently developing a portfolio of chemistry-driven HDAC inhibitors for cancer."
Southern Research will receive cash and stock in Virium, and will hold
seats on the Virium Pharmaceuticals Scientif
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