CDX Option Update

14 April 2021

Hemogenyx Pharmaceuticals plc

("Hemogenyx Pharmaceuticals" or the "Company")

CDX Option Update

Hemogenyx Pharmaceuticals plc (LSE: HEMO), the biopharmaceutical group developing new therapies and treatments for blood diseases, announces an update on negotiations regarding the future development of its leading product candidate CDX bispecific antibody ("CDX") for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia ("AML") and other potential applications.

On 13 January 2021, the Company announced the completion of the development of CDX with a global pharmaceutical company ("GlobalCo"). With the original development phase of the agreement completed, GlobalCo or the Company would exercise an option to license the other party's intellectual property necessary to exploit the CDX antibody. On 1 April 2021, the Company announced that negotiations regarding the licensing and development of CDX had commenced, and that the results of those negotiations will be announced upon their completion.

The Company has now received notice from GlobalCo that it will not exercise its option to license the Company's intellectual property. Accordingly, the Company has given notice to GlobalCo of its intention to exercise its own option to license GlobalCo's intellectual property on an exclusive, worldwide basis. The Company continues to work actively with GlobalCo in relation to development of the antibody, and to negotiate with GlobalCo to determine the exact terms of the licence and GlobalCo's continued involvement in the progression of CDX toward clinical trials. Further announcements will be made in due course.

Dr Vladislav Sandler, CEO & Co-Founder of Hemogenyx Pharmaceuticals, commented: 

"We are pleased with the progress of our negotiations with GlobalCo and their continued interest in working with Hemogenyx Pharmaceuticals. We look forward to advancing our CDX antibody to clinical trials."

About AML

AML, the most common type of acute leukemia in adults, has poor survival rates (a five-year survival rate of less than 30% in adults) and is currently treated using chemotherapy, rather than the potentially more benign and effective form of therapy being developed by Hemogenyx Pharmaceuticals. The successful development of the new therapy for AML would have a major impact on treatment and survival rates for the disease.

Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) Disclosure

Certain information contained in this announcement would have been deemed inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation No 596/2014 until the release of this announcement. 

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About Hemogenyx Pharmaceuticals plc

Hemogenyx Pharmaceuticals is a publicly traded company (LSE: HEMO) headquartered in London, with its US operating subsidiaries, Hemogenyx Pharmaceuticals LLC and Immugenyx LLC, located in New York City at its state-of-the-art research facility.

The Company is a pre-clinical stage biopharmaceutical group developing new medicines and treatments to treat blood and autoimmune disease and to bring the curative power of bone marrow transplantation to a greater number of patients suffering from otherwise incurable life-threatening diseases. Hemogenyx Pharmaceuticals is developing several distinct and complementary product candidates, as well as platform technologies that it uses as engines for novel product development.

For more than 50 years, bone marrow transplantation has been used to save the lives of patients suffering from blood diseases. The risks of toxicity and death that are associated with bone marrow transplantation, however, have meant that the procedure is restricted to use only as a last resort. The Company's technology has the potential to enable many more patients suffering from devastating blood diseases such as leukemia and lymphoma, as well as severe autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis, aplastic anemia and systemic lupus erythematosus (Lupus), to benefit from bone marrow transplantation.