REG - Crism Therapeutics - Admission to Trading and First Day of Dealings
31/05/2024 08:15
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RNS Number : 5522Q Crism Therapeutics Corporation 31 May 2024
31 May 2024
CRISM Therapeutics Corporation
(AIM:CRTX)
Admission to Trading and First Day of Dealings
CRISM Therapeutics Corporation ("CRISM" or the "Company"), previously called
Amur Minerals Corporation, is pleased to announce that, in conjunction and
simultaneously with the completion of the acquisition of the entire issued
share capital and other securities of Extruded Pharmaceuticals Limited at 8:00
a.m. today, its ordinary shares will commence trading on AIM under the ticker
CRTX, with ISIN VGG042401262 and SEDOL number BS60QF6.
CRISM Therapeutics Corporation is a UK-based pharmaceutical company which has
developed an innovative drug delivery technology, ChemoSeed, to improve the
clinical performance of cancer treatments for solid tumours through the local
delivery of chemotherapy. ChemoSeed is a polymer the size of a grain of
rice, administering irinotecan, a generic drug approved to treat brain cancer
and can be implanted directly into a tumour or the resection margin following
the removal of a tumour. ChemoSeed will initially be used to treat high
grade gliomas, a brain tumour with no satisfactory treatment.
More information on CRISM Therapeutics Corporation and the Admission Document
can be found here: www.crismtherapeutics.com
(http://www.crismtherapeutics.com) .
The Directors of CRISM consider key strengths to include:
· Potential for rapid progression to clinical
trials, assuming no need for further toxicology trials, which would reduce
time to conditional marketing authorisation by six to nine months and direct
costs of development by £400,000
· Based on available animal data, the Tessa Jowell
BRAIN MATRIX Scientific Advisory Board has approved the inclusion of ChemoSeed
in its Phase II platform clinical trial, which represents an efficient and
cost-effective opportunity for clinical development
· Utilising pre-approved drug, irinotecan, reduces
risk profile in clinical trials
· Attractive end market with the high grade glioma
market valued at circa £1.7 billion
· Target market has orphan disease designation,
meaning that ChemoSeed could receive conditional marketing authorisation for
high grade glioma in the UK following positive Phase II clinical trials
· CRISM expects to begin its first clinical trial
in late 2025. Should the trial generate positive results, given the unmet need
for new treatments, this may enable CRISM to commercialise the product for
both sales of ChemoSeed and licensing of the platform technology
· If ChemoSeed works well in clinical trials, the
Board anticipates ChemoSeed may get approval for compassionate use for other
solid tumours where surgical resection takes place or there is ease of access
to the tumour, such as pancreatic cancer
· All the necessary intellectual property for
ChemoSeed has been assigned to CRISM, which has submitted patent applications
in relevant jurisdictions
Board of Directors
CRISM has a strong Board with a combination of expertise in R&D,
commercialisation in healthcare and public markets. Biographies of the Board
of Directors are below.
CRISM Therapeutics CEO, Andrew Webb commented: "We are delighted to have
completed this reverse takeover and to begin CRISM Therapeutics' journey as an
AIM quoted company. We believe CRISM has an attractive risk profile owing to
using an existing pre-approved drug, irinotecan, and we have a clear strategy
for progressing ChemoSeed through development and to commercialisation with
support of organisations such as the Tessa Jowell BRAIN MATRIX.
"Brain tumours remain the biggest cancer killer of children and adults under
40, and there remains a significant lack of cancer research funding in this
indication. We hope to change the lives of patients with this condition and
believe that ChemoSeed has the potential to become transformational, owing to
its novel delivery mechanism, in which we hope to prevent any tumour regrowth.
"CRISM operates in attractive markets, with the high grade glioma market
valued at circa £1.7 billion, and other indications with solid tumours
providing further potential upside. We are very excited to progress into phase
II clinical trials and will keep shareholders up to date with our development.
I'd like to thank our shareholders, for their support in this process and we
look forward to repaying their faith as we deliver on our objectives look to
create value in the process."
Shares in issue and Total Voting Rights
As disclosed in the Company's Admission Document published on 13 May 2024, the
Company expected to have 32,678,150 shares in issue at readmission. As a
result of the share consolidation and fractional entitlements, the Company has
issued a further 162 shares, application for which will be made to be to the
London Stock Exchange to be admitted to trading on AIM on or around 7 June
2024 ("Admission"). Following Admission, the total issued share capital of the
Company will consist of 32,678,312 Ordinary Shares each with voting rights.
The Company does not hold any Ordinary Shares in treasury. Therefore, the
total number of voting rights in the Company will be 32,678,312.
Enquiries:
Company Nomad and Broker Financial PR
CRISM Therapeutics Corporation S.P. Angel Corporate Finance LLP Buchanan
Andrew Webb, CEO Richard Morrison
Chris McConville, CSO Adam Cowl Mark Court mark.court@buchanancomms.co.uk
Jamie Hooper jamie.hooper@buchanancomms.co.uk
via Buchanan +44 (0) 20 3470 0470 +44 (0) 20 7466 5000
Background
CRISM's lead product, ChemoSeed is a polymer the size of a grain of rice,
administering irinotecan, a generic drug approved to treat brain cancer and
can be implanted directly into a tumour or the resection margin following the
removal of a tumour, thereby ensuring that effective therapeutic
concentrations of chemotherapy drugs directly reach the tumour tissue. This
directs that therapeutic concentrations of chemotherapy drugs reach the
deep-seated tumour tissue or cover the entire resection margin.
ChemoSeed will initially be used to treat high grade gliomas, a brain tumour
with no satisfactory treatment. In the case of treating high grade gliomas,
ChemoSeeds can be implanted during surgery thereby bypassing the blood brain
barrier, which prevents other treatments from being able to reach the tumour
and be effective. Brain tumours are the biggest cancer killer of children
and adults under the age of 40. In the UK, approximately 16,000 new cases
are diagnosed annually, with an estimated 60,000 people living with the
condition. Despite this, just one per cent. of cancer research funding has
been allocated to brain tumours since records began in 2002.
ChemoSeed addresses a significant, unmet medical need in the treatment of
high-grade glioma. There are no current cures and present treatments merely
seek to extend life, often by just a few months, with serious adverse side
effects. Each ChemoSeed consists of the pre-approved chemotherapy drug,
irinotecan, and the biodegradable polymer PLGA, both of which have been
previously administered to the brain with no toxicity issues. This, combined
with the unmet medical needs of the target market for ChemoSeed, means CRISM
could potentially receive conditional marketing authorisation in the UK on the
back of positive Phase II clinical trial data. This authorisation could be
received as early as 2028, therefore reducing the time and cost to
commercialisation of irinotecan loaded ChemoSeeds for high-grade glioma and
bringing a new treatment to the market for a serious unmet medical need.
CRISM has the opportunity to licence the technology in addition to direct
sales.
Should the model work in high-grade glioma, CRISM plans to develop ChemoSeed
products for other cancers where a local drug delivery strategy would be of
benefit, such as pancreatic, prostate, bladder, breast and liver cancers.
Board of Directors
Dr Nermeen Yunus Varawalla - Independent Non-Executive Chair
Dr Nermeen Varawalla is a healthcare and life sciences business leader, who
founded, built and exited a number of multinational start up and corporate
businesses. She has deep expertise in clinical development, translational
medicine and medical affairs having held executive positions in contract
research organisations and biopharmaceutical companies including PRA Health
(now ICON plc) and BTG International plc, until its acquisition by Boston
Scientific Corporation. Most recently she was Chief Medical Officer at Relief
Therapeutics, a listed biopharmaceutical company focused on COVID 19 and rare
genetic diseases. In addition, Dr Varawalla has served two terms as a Trustee
Board Member for the Malaria Consortium where she was also a member of its
Finance, Audit and Risk Committee. Dr Varawalla has trained in clinical
medicine at the Universities of Oxford and Mumbai, holds a DPhil (PhD) in
Molecular Medicine from Oxford's Institute of Molecular Medicine and an MBA
from INSEAD.
Andrew James Webb - Chief Executive Officer
Andrew Webb is an experienced entrepreneur in the biotechnology sector. Mr
Webb has over 30 years of commercial experience in the Diagnostics and Life
Sciences industry. Prior to Extruded Pharmaceuticals he was Chief Commercial
Officer at Novel Technologies Holdings Ltd. Before NTH he was Chief Executive
Officer and founder of EKF Molecular Diagnostics and a non-executive director
for Arcis Biotechnology. He was previously Senior Director at Qiagen following
the acquisition of the personalised healthcare company, DxS Ltd in 2009 where
he was Commercial Director. Prior to DxS, Mr Webb was with Amersham
Biosciences (now GE Healthcare) and in preclinical research at
SmithKlineBeecham (now GlaxoSmithKline).
Dr Christopher ("Chris") McConville - Chief Scientific Officer
Dr McConville is an Associate Professor in Pharmaceutics, Drug Formulation and
Delivery at the University of Birmingham as well as the inventor of ChemoSeed.
He is an experienced formulation scientist and project manager with expertise
in translating research from the lab to the clinic. He has taken a number of
pharmaceutical innovations from R&D to the clinic and is currently
seconded as Director of Translation to the PHTA (Precision Health Technology
Accelerator), a University of Birmingham initiative dedicated to the rapid
development and translation of innovative therapies and technologies from
concept to clinical evaluation. Dr McConville is responsible for
establishing the translational and commercialisation pathway for novel
technologies, identifying the key partners needed to advance the technology
onto commercialisation and then build and lead the team to ensure the
translational and commercialisation pathway is followed and goals and targets
achieved on time.
Gerald ("Gerry") Douglas Beaney - Independent Non-Executive Director
Gerry is a consultant to growth companies seeking strategic advice or funding
for expansion.
He was a non-executive director of Spectral MD Holdings Ltd (subsequently
renamed Spectral AI, Inc.) a medical technology company quoted on AIM between
June 2021 and September 2023. He acted as chairman of the Nomination Committee
and was a member of the audit committee. He was formerly chairman of the
remuneration committee. Gerry stepped down from the board on the company's
admission to NASDAQ in September 2023.
Prior to Spectral MD Holdings Ltd, he carried out senior executive roles in
the corporate finance sector for over 25 years. During 2018 he was the Chief
Executive Officer of Northland Capital Partners Limited, an institutional
stockbroker based in London. He acted as Northland's Head of Corporate Finance
between 2014 and 2018. From 1997 to 2013 he was a Partner and Head of Capital
Markets at Grant Thornton UK LLP which grew to become the largest independent
nominated adviser to AIM companies under his leadership. Prior to 1997 Gerry
held various roles with Grant Thornton in the UK and New York City. He is a
member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland and was a member
of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants between 1991 and
2016. He holds a Bachelor of Accountancy Degree from the University of
Glasgow.
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