Sareum Notes SRA737 Combination Data to be Presented at the AACR Annual Meeting
Cambridge, UK, 25 March 2021 – Sareum Holdings plc (AIM: SAR), the specialist drug development company delivering targeted small molecule therapeutics to improve the treatment of cancer and autoimmune diseases, notes that researchers from the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) will present preclinical data on the combination of the Chk1 inhibitor SRA737 with AstraZeneca’s WEE1 inhibitor, adavosertib, at the forthcoming American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting.
SRA737 was discovered and initially developed by scientists at The ICR in collaboration with Sareum, and with funding from Sareum and Cancer Research UK. SRA737 was licensed by CRT Pioneer Fund (CPF) to Sierra Oncology, in a c.$300 million-plus royalties licence deal, with Sareum eligible to receive 27.5% of all payments to CPF under the agreement.
The poster* describes how the combination of SRA737 and adavosertib potentiated cell death in cellular models of ovarian, breast and pancreatic cancer and in disease model studies of ovarian and breast cancer.
* “A study of combinatorial growth inhibition, cell death and DNA damage repair caused by CHK1 inhibitor SRA737 and WEE1 inhibitor adavosertib in TP53 mutated cell lines” (Abstract 1010), to be presented on-line during the “Cellular Responses to Anticancer Drugs” session on 10 April 2021. https://www.abstractsonline.com/pp8/#!/9325/presentation/2082
Sareum’s CSO, Dr John Reader, commented: “We are encouraged to see yet another potential treatment modality for SRA737, in this case in tumours with a TP53 mutation, a mutation that is present in approximately half of all solid tumour cancers.”
Notes for editors:
Sareum is a specialist drug development company delivering targeted small molecule therapeutics to improve the treatment of cancer and autoimmune diseases. The Company aims to generate value through licensing its candidates to international pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies at the preclinical or early clinical trials stage.
Sareum is advancing internal programmes focused on distinct dual tyrosine kinase 2 (TYK2) / Janus kinase 1 (JAK1) inhibitors through preclinical development as therapies for autoimmune diseases, including the ‘cytokine storm’ immune system overreaction to Covid-19 and other viral infections, (SDC-1801) and cancer immunotherapy (SDC-1802).
Sareum also has an economic interest in SRA737, a clinical-stage oral, selective Checkpoint kinase 1 (Chk1) inhibitor that targets cancer cell replication and DNA damage repair mechanisms. Preliminary Phase 2 and comprehensive preclinical data suggest SRA737 may have broad application in combination with other oncology and immune-oncology drugs in genetically defined patients.
SRA737 was discovered and initially developed by scientists at The Institute of Cancer Research in collaboration with Sareum, and with funding from Sareum and Cancer Research UK. SRA737 was licensed by CRT Pioneer Fund (CPF) to Sierra Oncology Inc. Sierra continues to explore options that would enable the development of SRA737 to advance.
Sareum Holdings plc is listed on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange, trading under the ticker SAR. For further information, please visit the Company’s website at www.sareum.com
