Pharminox

Pharminox Limited was a UK-based drug discovery and development company founded in 2002 as a spin-out from Oxford University. The company established its headquarters in Nottingham and focused its research on creating small molecule drugs to treat various forms of cancer. Its primary scientific approach involved developing agents that selectively target the telomeres of cancer cells, which are essential for their immortality. The company also explored molecularly targeted DNA damage and the inhibition of DNA damage repair mechanisms as therapeutic strategies.

The management team included Peter Worrall as CEO, Professor Malcolm Stevens as Chief Scientific Officer, and Dr. Marc Hummersone as Research Director. Under their leadership, Pharminox advanced its portfolio, which included the DNA-damaging agent Phortress and the telomere-targeting compound RHPS4. The business model was centered on research and development with the goal of out-licensing its drug candidates to larger pharmaceutical partners. For instance, it had a collaboration with the Schering-Plough Research Institute, which had an option to license and commercialize compounds from their joint work. Over its lifespan, the company successfully raised approximately $10.2 million through various funding rounds to advance its research pipeline toward preclinical candidate selection. According to PitchBook data, the company ceased operations in July 2017.

Keywords: drug discovery, oncology, small molecule drugs, cancer therapeutics, telomere targeting, DNA damage repair, preclinical development, pharmaceutical research, UK biotech, Nottingham startup, cancer research, Phortress, RHPS4, anti-cancer agents, molecularly targeted therapy, DNA-interactive agents, out-licensing, biopharmaceutical, medicinal chemistry, life sciences