APTO - Aptose Announces Closing of $3 Million Investment by Hanmi Pharmaceutical | Benzinga
SAN DIEGO and TORONTO, Sept. 06, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Aptose Biosciences Inc. ("Aptose" or the "Company") (NASDAQ:APTO, TSX:APS), a clinical-stage precision oncology company developing highly differentiated oral targeted agents to treat hematologic malignancies, today announced closing of a $3 million investment in common shares of the Company (the "Shares") as the first tranche of a private equity investment for up to a maximum of $7 million or 19.99 percent ownership interest by Hanmi Pharmaceutical, Inc. ("Hanmi"), Seoul, South Korea. Under the terms of the strategic investment, Hanmi purchased each Share at a price of $4.488, representing a premium over Aptose's common stock price.
The investment will provide additional financing for Aptose's lead hematology drug, tuspetinib, formerly HM43239, which was licensed from Hanmi in November 2021 (press release here) and is currently in the APTIVATE international Phase 1/2 expansion trial in which patients with relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia (R/R AML) receive tuspetinib monotherapy or in combination with venetoclax.
Aptose has granted Hanmi certain rights pursuant to an investor rights agreement, including registration rights, pre-emptive rights, information rights and the right to appoint non-executive consultants.
The closing of the second tranche for up to $4 million or a maximum of 19.99 percent ownership interest will be triggered upon Aptose achieving, prior to July 1, 2024, certain manufacturing and data milestones related to tuspetinib. The Company currently anticipates achieving the milestones by year-end. Under the second tranche of the investment, Hanmi may not acquire more than 19.99% of the Shares issued and outstanding calculated as of the closing date (on a partially-diluted basis), and, if necessary, the proceeds from the second tranche will be reduced to the extent exceeding this limit irrespective of the Company achieving the milestones.
"We are grateful to our valued partner Hanmi Pharmaceutical for this investment and their confidence in our strategic direction," said William G. Rice, Ph.D., Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. "Tuspetinib (TUS) has demonstrated single agent activity in critically ill AML patients across a diversity of genetically-defined AML populations. Importantly, TUS in combination with the venetoclax BCL-2 inhibitor (the "TUS/VEN" doublet) has been well tolerated and delivered responses in R/R AML patients who failed prior-VEN therapy, even among patients with wild-type FLT3 (FLT3-WT) and a TP53 mutation. Prior-VEN failure patients represent a rapidly emerging unmet need in AML, and the continued favorable safety profile, convenience and efficacy position this TUS/VEN doublet as a potential therapy of choice in R/R AML and position TUS to serve in future triplet combination therapies for newly diagnosed 1L AML. Our momentum for vigorous enrollment of patients onto the TUS/VEN doublet in the Phase 1b/2 APTIVATE clinical trial is driven by investigator enthusiasm for the mechanism, safety and efficacy of this unique drug combination, and we look forward to additional data release throughout the remainder of 2023."
"Tuspetinib appears to have a clear development and commercial path forward with the potential to address large patient populations in AML," said Ms. Juhyun Lim, President of Hanmi Pharmaceutical. "We are pleased to support our collaboration with Aptose with this investment, with the hope that this novel agent will help address ...