N4 Pharma PLC - Derbyshire, England-based pharmaceutical company, focused on the development of Nuvec, a novel silica nanoparticle delivery system, for vaccines and therapeutics - Says subsidiary, Nanogenics Ltd, has signed a contract to start the formulation and sequence selection work to prepare its ECP105 product for testing in pre-clinical studies at King's College, London.

ECP105 is designed to aid the recovery of post-surgical treatment of glaucoma, and more specifically, to silence the fibrotic gene, MRTF-B. Unlike current off-label treatment using toxic chemotherapy drugs, ECP105 is intended for repeat use to prevent the need for further surgery.

Chief Executive Officer Nigel Theobald says: "We are very excited for the potential of ECP105, which is a unique product for an unmet clinical need in the ophthalmology market. More than 75 million people worldwide are affected by glaucoma and the total glaucoma treatment market size in 2021 exceeded USD5.5 billion and is growing. A novel product in this space alone represents a good opportunity for Nanogenics and importantly the antifibrotic siRNA sequence can also be used to investigate other fibrotic treatments for liver and lung fibrosis."

Current stock price: 0.95 pence

12-month change: down 52%

By Holly Beveridge, Alliance News reporter

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