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Roquefort Therapeutics PLC on Monday said it has agreed the terms for the proposed sale of its wholly-owned subsidiary Oncogeni Ltd to UAE-based conglomerate Nations Trust Holding LLC, for up to $12 million. Shares in Roquefort surged 69% higher to 2.62 pence in London on Monday morning. The stock remains down 66% over the past year, however. The London-based biotechnology company focused on developing medicines for hard-to-treat cancers said the firms intend to sign a binding share purchase agreement for the subsidiary sale within the next 60 days, at which time further details on the disposal will be released. Oncongeni holds Roquefort’s exclusive licences for the mersodermal killer cell and Stat-6 siRNA patents. ‘The proposed sale of Oncogeni is an important step towards completing the initial phase of the Company’s strategy to acquire and develop pre-clinical assets and to then realise value through completing trade-sale transactions,’ said Chief Executive Officer Ajan Reginald. ‘We are pleased to be working with such a well-funded and highly resourced partner to take the Oncogeni portfolio into clinical trials, which if successful, will create long term value for the company.’ Roquefort also on Monday said CEO Reginald has announced his intention to resign, alongside Non-Executive Director Martin Evans. Both resignations will become effective at the market close on March 17, with Reginald remaining as a consultant to Roquefort and as chair of Oncogeni, to oversee the disposal. Non-Executive Director Darrin Disley will step into the role of interim managing director on March 17, too. The resignations came as part of a ‘planned transition’, for the first phase of Roquefort’s new business strategy, which involved the sale of subsidiaries Oncogeni and Lyramid Pty Ltd. Roquefort last week reported Pleiades Pharma Ltd has completed in-licensing for the clinical-stage PapMV cancer and infectious disease vaccine platform, as well as the S100A9 immunotherapy, from Innate BioSynergy. This had been one of the conditions on which the Lyramid sale had been conditional. Lyramid will be sold to Pleiades for a total of $10.8 million, once Pleaides has completed its current round of fundraising, which is expected no later than June 30. Copyright 2025 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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