SUDA Pharmaceuticals shares rise on securing anagrelide cancer patent in Japan

SUDA Pharmaceuticals Ltd (ASX:SUD) confirmed that the Japanese Patent Office has accepted its patent application for anagrelide to treat cancer and the patent will proceed to grant. The patent titled “Use of Anagrelide for Treating Cancer” has an expiry date of December 2035. “Significant market opportunity” Chief executive officer Dr Michael Baker said: “To have the Japanese Patent Office grant this patent is a great step in the right direction for the anagrelide program. “With a population of almost 130 million people, a granted patent in Japan represents a significant market opportunity. “In conjunction with our granted European patent, this further strengthens our ability to capture maximum value from the anagrelide program”. Pharma companies buck the trend to outshine other sectors in Asia-Pacific region | $SUD signed a new licence agreement in the March quarter with Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Korea for its ZolpiMist product, an oral spray of zolpidem for #insomnia https://t.co/PF1PFc2tTD #Health — SUDA Pharmaceuticals Ltd (ASX: SUD) (@SudaPharmaLtd) May 10, 2020 Rationale for Anagrelide use in cancer Anagrelide is an FDA and EMA approved drug used to reduce elevated platelets and lower the thrombotic risk in myeloproliferative diseases associated with high platelet counts. Recent research has demonstrated the proactive role that platelets play in facilitating the growth and spread of cancer, in addition to suppressing immune responses to cancer. It has also been shown that cancer cells can trigger a negative feedback loop, sending out chemicals to signal to the body to produce more platelets. Solid tumour types where increased platelet levels have been reported to occur in a significant proportion of the patient population include melanoma, mesothelioma, ovarian, vulvar, cervical, renal cell, lung, glioblastoma, pancreatic, endometrial and colorectal cancer. Working with Dr Richard Franklin, who was involved in the early develop and registration of anagrelide in Europe and is now the project director for the anagrelide program, SUDA continues to make progress developing a pharmaceutical grade oral spray formulation for anagrelide.