Evgen Pharma plc

("Evgen" or "the Company" or "the Group")

Return of rights to Sulforadex® from Juvenescence

Alderley Park, UK - 2 August 2023: Evgen Pharma plc (AIM: EVG), a clinical stage drug development company developing sulforaphane-based medicines, and partner JuvLife Ltd, a division of Juvenescence Ltd, have agreed to terminate the Patent and Know-How License Agreement for Evgen's Sulforadex® sulforaphane stabilisation technology.

The exclusive rights will be returned in Q4 2023. The upfront payment already received is non-refundable.

Dr Huw Jones, Evgen CEO, commented:

"JuvLife has undergone a business re-organisation and re-prioritisation exercise. The return of these rights enables us to focus on higher value partnerships for pharmaceutical use of our Sulforadex technology, such as the licensing deal concluded with Stalicla in late 2022 and our own oncology programmes.

"The nutraceutical market suffers from lower margins and relative market saturation making it significantly less attractive to us than the pharma market where we continue to concentrate our efforts as the only pharmaceutical grade sulforaphane available worldwide.

"In other areas of the business, our collaborator recently secured a £900k non-dilutive grant for the investigation of SFX-01 in glioblastoma and we continue to work closely with our partner Stalicla on their Autism Spectrum Disorder programme which could generate $160.5m in milestones and double digit royalties."

As at 31 March 2023, Evgen had cash of £5m, without including any further milestone payments the current cash runway is to Q4 2024, with potential future milestones from partner Stalicla SA extending the cash runway into 2025.

-Ends-

Notes to Editors

About Evgen Pharma plc

Evgen Pharma is a clinical stage drug development company developing sulforaphane based medicines for the treatment of multiple diseases. The Company's core technology is Sulforadex®, a method for synthesising and stabilising the highly biologically active compound sulforaphane and novel proprietary analogues based on sulforaphane. 

The Company's lead asset, SFX-01, is a patented composition of synthetic sulforaphane and alpha-cyclodextrin and has undergone clinical trials for oestrogen-positive (ER+) metastatic breast cancer and recently a Phase 1b study of the Company's new enteric coated tablet formulation. The FDA has granted Orphan Drug status to SFX-01 in malignant glioma. SFX-01 will be investigated initially in this indication as an investigator sponsored study in the Netherlands.

The Company also has a wide number of collaborations with leading academic centres in the UK, Europe and the US as part of the continuing strategy to build the scientific data for the compound. Recently, Evgen completed an out-licensing transaction with Stalicla SA, a Swiss specialist company in neurodevelopmental disorders, commencing with autism spectrum disorder. The deal, if successful, will generate milestone payments of $160.5m and a double-digit royalty on sales.

The Company has its headquarters and registered office at Alderley Park, Cheshire. It is listed on AIM in London and trades under the ticker symbol EVG. 

For further information, please visit: www.evgen.com