Progen hires Burrill as PI-88 heads to market

Brisbane cancer-drug developer Progen Industries (ASX:PGL, NASDAQ:PGLAF) has appointed San Francisco's Burrill and Co as matchmaker to sift its crammed dance card for a partner to take its promising angiogenesis inhibitor PI-88 to the market.

The global merchant banker and life-sciences venture capitalist has extensive experience in assisting companies with strategic partnering initiatives, according to Progen's MD, Lewis Lee.

Progen said that, over the past 18 months, a number of large pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies have expressed interest in PI-88, based on continuing positive results from early-phase clinical trials.

Burrill will work with Progen to advance partnering discussions with its suitors, and others identified by Burrill, which has an extensive network of contacts in the global biotechnology industry, and a solid record for closing partnering transactions.

Lee said that, with the success of its recent capital-raising, Progen is in a position of strength to advance its licensing discussions.

Burrill's appointment had been contemplated for some time. "We are looking forward to working with Burrill," Lee said. "They provide an experienced set of feet on the ground in North America and have valuable resources and networks that will ensure the transaction is valued appropriately."

In trials, PI-88 has been shown to be a potent booster of the activity of standard chemotherapy drugs for advanced, metastatic melanoma when used in combination therapy.

The drug, which has yet to be trialled as a stand-alone chemotherapy drug in early-stage human cancer patients, has two modes of action: it inhibits angiogenesis, the formation of new blood vessels that supply tumours with oxygen and nutrients, and it also corrals metastatic cells inside blood vessels, preventing them from forming new tumours.