Vidac Pharma Receives Japanese Patent Office Notice of Allowance for Cancer Drug Candidate


Vidac Pharma Holdings Plc. recently announced it has received a Notice of Allowance from the Japanese Patent Office for the composition and methods of use for its VDA-1275 drug candidate, which has shown multiple promising effects in preclinical studies.

“Receiving this notice from the Japanese authorities adds to our excitement about VDA-1275, Vidac’s next and powerful anti-cancer drug candidate. In recent preclinical studies, this new molecule has shown effects, both directly against a variety of tumors in animal trials, and through powerful synergistic effects in combination with two widely used types of chemotherapy in human liver organoids,” said Vidac Pharma Chief Executive Officer Max Herzberg.

Last month, Vidac announced results showing that VDA-1275 statistically significantly increased survival in a murine colorectal cancer model as a stand-alone treatment, with a survival benefit similar to Opdivo in a head-to-head comparison. In a 3-D organoid model of human liver cancer, it reduced the concentrations of sorafenib and cisplatin needed to achieve IC50 cancer cell viability by 50% and 95%, respectively. Finally, VDA-1275 triggered an immune response through several mechanisms. The company will publish these results in a peer-reviewed publication.

Both VDA-1275 and the more advanced VDA-1102, which is in separate Phase 2 testing of advanced actinic keratosis and of cutaneous T cell lymphoma, disrupt the interaction between hexokinase 2 (HK2) and the voltage-dependent anion channels (VDACs) in mitochondria. Cancer cells overexpress HK2, which catalyzes the first step of the glucose metabolism necessary to fuel tumor growth. HK2 blocks VDACs, which prevents apoptosis, supports cancer cell proliferation, and suppresses immune responses. Clinical data for Vidac’s first-generation metabolic checkpoint modulator candidates have shown powerful effects in halting cancer cell proliferation and restoring immune-sensitivity and apoptosis.

Vidac Pharma is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to discovering and developing first-in-class medicines to help people suffering from a range of oncologic and onco-dermatologic diseases. Vidac develops first-in-class anti-cancer drugs by modifying the hyper glycolytic tumor microenvironment, targeting the overexpression and wrong anchoring of the Hexokinase 2 metabolic checkpoint (HK2) in cancer cells, to renormalize tumor microenvironment and selectively provoke their programmed death without affecting surrounding normal tissue. VDA-1102, a first drug candidate of Vidac Pharma has shown to be effective against advanced Actinic Keratosis (AK) and interim results in Cutaneous T-cell Lymphoma (CTCL) gave positive effect in Phase 2 trials in humans. For more information, visit www.vidacpharma.com.