Cylene, TetraGene in Anticancer Alliance

Cylene Pharmaceuticals and TetraGene have entered into an exclusive, worldwide option and license Agreement allowing TetraGene to advance the development of Quarfloxin and Cylene’s associated anticancer quadruplex-targeting technologies. Cylene will receive an undisclosed upfront fee, as well as potential milestone payments and royalties on product sales. TetraGene has the option to acquire worldwide rights to the technologies licensed from Cylene, which include the Phase II compound Quarfloxin and several registered patents. Quarfloxin has been shown to be safe and well-tolerated in Phase I trials.
 
“This agreement is a clear win for both organizations,” said William G. Rice, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer of Cylene Pharmaceuticals. “TetraGene is well placed to advance Quarfloxin through the clinic and to capture exclusive worldwide rights to the quadruplex-targeting technologies. Cylene will receive standard industry payments as the quadruplex program progresses and we will continue to focus our in-house development efforts on CX-5461, Cylene’s clinical stage Pol I inhibitor that activates the p53 tumor suppressor selectively in cancer cells and not normal cells.”
 
“The agreement between TetraGene and Cylene immediately provides us with access to a clinical stage drug,” said Laurence H. Hurley, Ph.D., chief scientific officer of TetraGene and a pioneer of G-quadruplex targeted therapeutics. “The validity of drug targeting G-quadruplex DNA and modulating expression of cancer genes has dramatically increased in the last few years and our team is uniquely positioned to take advantage of these new insights.”