SINGAPORE, April 11, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- NMT Pharmaceuticals Pte Ltd (NMT Pharma) announced today that it has signed a licensing agreement with US-based CAO Pharmaceuticals Inc. (CAO Pharma) for an exclusive worldwide license right to further develop and market an anti-cancer drug CZ-48 co-developed by CAO Pharma and NMT Pharma.
NMT Pharma has completed due diligence of the CZ-48 drug for cancer treatment in major markets. "This is a new milestone to expand our business from drug delivery and contract R&D service to having our own drug pipeline. We would like to bring this promising drug to every part of the world with our partners as pre-clinical data has showed that CZ-48 has low toxicity and efficacy with 22 different cancer cell lines," said David Sher, Managing Director of NMT Pharma.
CZ-48 is an analogue of camptothecin, a topoisomerase I inhibitor and prodrug which only becomes active when entering in tumor cells. "We believe that the new capsule formulation and orally administrated CZ-48 drug would have mild side effects with better therapeutic effects and patient compliance. We have successfully recruited our first patient of the Phase I clinical trial recently," said Zhisong Cao, PhD., President and CEO of CAO Pharma.
Beside the licensing agreement, NMT Pharma has also signed a research agreement and a stock purchase agreement with CAO Pharma. "We are glad that our partnership with NMT Pharma goes beyond CZ-48 drug. Our new shareholder will focus on marketing of CZ-48 drug and my team will manage clinical trial and new drug development programs," added Zhisong Cao.
About NMT Pharmaceuticals Pte Ltd (http://www.nmtpharma.com)
NMT Pharmaceuticals Pte Ltd is a Singapore and spin off company from the pharmaceutical business division of NanoMaterials Technology Pte Ltd (NMT). It has proprietary technologies called High Gravity Controlled Precipitation (HGCP) Technology and Duo-CTM Technology for improving drug delivery. It has also other patented dispersion technology to improve the bioavailability of micro- and nano-drug particles and formulations.
About CAO Pharmaceuticals Inc. (http://www.caopharmaceuticals.com)
CAO Pharmaceuticals Inc. is a start-up company based in Houston, Texas with its business focusing on discovery, development, manufacturing and selling of anti-cancer drugs. The company's leading drug is CZ-48 which has a broad spectrum of anti-cancer activity against various types of human tumor, such as pancreatic, breast, lung, ovarian, bladder, colon, kidney, liver, stomach, lymph, and head and neck cancers, as well as melanomas. New drug pipelines are being developed and in preparation for IND filling to FDA. The company's management team is led by Zhisong Cao, PhD., who has more than 20 years of experience in developing anti-cancer drugs. His team has vast experience and knowledge in conducting clinical trials in Phase I and II.
Media Contact Details:
NMT Pharmaceuticals Pte Ltd
Tel: +65-6270-0733
David Sher, david.sher@nanomt.com
CAO Pharmaceuticals Inc.
Tel: +1 (281) 724-1427
Zhisong Cao, PhD. zhisongc@caopharmaceuticals.com
