Calgary-based Onco-Innovations Limited (CBOE CA: ONCO / OTCQB: ONNVF) signed a non-binding letter of intent with Ifowonco Informatics Incorporated to negotiate an exclusive option covering Ifowonco's preclinical small-molecule LAG-3 inhibitor program, with the potential to obtain an exclusive worldwide license. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Under the proposed two-stage arrangement, Onco would first obtain an exclusive option to evaluate the LAG-3 program and, if the option is exercised, acquire an exclusive worldwide license. The transaction remains subject to negotiation and execution of a definitive agreement.
Ifowonco's program includes LG-306 and LG-310, small-molecule inhibitors of lymphocyte-activation gene 3 (LAG-3), an immune checkpoint receptor expressed on T cells. The compounds are being developed as orally available alternatives to biologic LAG-3 therapies, a class led by Bristol Myers Squibb's relatlimab, which is approved in combination with nivolumab. Ifowonco has reported in vitro activity for LG-306 and LG-310 and is continuing compound optimization and preclinical testing.
Onco said the program could also provide a potential combination strategy with ONC010, its nanoparticle-encapsulated polynucleotide kinase phosphatase (PNKP) inhibitor targeting the DNA damage response pathway. The company said DNA damage response inhibition and immune checkpoint blockade could represent complementary approaches, although no preclinical combination data were disclosed.