Cyclacel Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CYCC), a cancer drug developer, is raising $3 million for litigation expenses to protect its intellectual property, according to documents filed with the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission.
The financing will also go toward corporate expenses.
The company develops drugs that target different phases of the cell cycle, such as when the cell divides. The company has three products in clinical development. Its lead drug, sapacitabine (CYC682) is in phase 3 development and is designed to treat acute myeloid leukemia in elderly patients, and has a special protocol assessment from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to expedite the regulatory process. The drug is also undergoing phase 2 clinical trials for myelodysplastic syndromes, lung cancer and chronic lymphocytic leukemia.
Research and development costs for the drug increased by 44 percent, or $2.8 million, to $9.2 million in 2011 over the previous year.
There are more than 11,900 new cases of acute myeloid leukemia diagnosed in the United States each year, mostly in older adults. The average age of a person with the disease is 65.
Cyclacel is based in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey, with a research facility in Dundee, Scotland. It was founded in 1996 by Sir David Lane, who discovered the p53 tumor suppressor protein.
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By Stephanie Baum
Stephanie Baum is the East Coast Innovation Reporter for MedCityNews.com. She enjoys covering healthcare startups across health IT, drug development and medical devices and innovations deployed to improve medical care. She graduated from Franklin & Marshall College in Pennsylvania and has worked across radio, print and video. She's written for The Christian Science Monitor, Dow Jones & Co. and United Business Media.Visit website | More posts by Author
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