Rockville, Md, Sept. 21, 2009 – Rexahn Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE Amex: RNN), a clinical stage pharmaceutical company commercializing potential best in class oncology and central nervous system (CNS) therapeutics, today announced that it has closed on its previously announced licensing and stock purchase agreements with Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Limited (NASDAQ:TEVA), a top 20 pharmaceutical company, for the development of its novel anti-cancer compound, RX-3117. RX-3117 is a small molecule, new chemical entity (NCE), nucleoside compound that has an anti-metabolite mechanism of action, and has therapeutic potential in a broad range of cancers including colon, lung and pancreatic cancer.
The companies reached an agreement with respect to the commercialization and development of RX-3117, under which on September 21, 2009 Teva purchased 3,102,837 shares of Rexahn¡¯s common stock for $3.5 million. Rexahn will be eligible to receive additional development, regulatory and sales milestone payments. In addition, Rexahn will be eligible to receive royalties on net sales worldwide. Under the terms of the deal, Teva may also make an additional equity investment in Rexahn within the next 12 months.
About RX-3117
RX-3117 is a small molecule, new chemical entity (NCE), nucleoside compound that inhibits DNA methyltransferase, a cyclin-dependent kinase, and DNA synthesis. Potential indications of RX-3117 are solid tumors including colon, lung and pancreatic cancers. RX-3117 has demonstrated its ability to overcome cancer drug resistance in cancer cells, in particular, gemcitabine-resistance in the human lung cancer cell. The US patent issued for RX-3117 claims composition of matter, synthesis, and methods (2008).
