Stalicla SA and Evgen Pharma plc ink $160.5m licensing deal for SFX-01

The Geneva-based precision neuroscience company, which is advancing the first precision medicine platform (DEPI) for patients with neurodevelopmental disorders, announced the first application of the licenced compound will be in a biologically-characterised subgroup of patients with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Under the agreement, Stalicla AS is going to pay $0.5m upfront and milestones of up to $160.5m in relation to the first indication. Under this license the Swiss company will als grant low to medium double digit percentage royalties on sales of SFX-01, if approved. Since its foundation in 2017 by Lynn Durham the company has raised $31m to advance DEPI and its pipeline.

Aggregating molecular data and human genetic information, DEPI has already reached validation through the clinical identification of biologically defined subgroups of patients with ASD, and their respective candidate treatments. SFX-01 is a patented composition of sulforaphane and alpha cyclodextrin, and the only grade of sulforaphane suitable for clinical research and potential approval as medicine. Thanks to DEPI, Stalicla identified SFX-01 as the best treatment candidate for its  ASD-Phenotype 2 subgroup of patients. SFX-01 in-licensing follows the completion, in early 2022, of Phase Ib for STP1, Stalicla’s lead candidate tailored to ASD-Phenotype 1, a first subgroup of patients identified by DEPI.