Novogen Awarded Grant of up to A$3m by Australian Federal Government for Novel Drug Discovery Program

SYDNEY, March 6, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

• Grant is provided under Cooperative Research Centre Project (CRC-P) scheme and provides up to A$3 million in cash over three years
• Funds will be applied to development of a next-generation anti-tropomyosin program, intended to provide potential new therapies for cancer. Research is distinct from Novogen's existing anti-tropomyosin development candidate, ATM-3507 (Anisina)
• Novogen is lead partner in a collaboration, involving the University of New South Wales and ICP Firefly Pty Ltd, a Sydney-based contract research organisation

Australian oncology-focused biotechnology company Novogen Limited (ASX: NRT; NASDAQ: NVGN) is pleased to announce that it has been awarded a grant of up to A$3m over three years under the Cooperative Research Centre Project (CRC-P) scheme managed by the Australian Department of Industry Innovation and Science (DIIS).

The grant has been awarded to fund development of a next-generation anti-tropomyosin program, which is intended to provide potential new therapies for cancer. This research is distinct from Novogen's existing anti-tropomyosin program, ATM-3507 (Anisina), which is currently in preclinical development.

The award provides a cash grant of up to A$3 million over three years to a collaboration led by Novogen, together with the University of New South Wales (UNSW) and ICP Firefly Pty Ltd, a privately-held contract research organization based in Sydney, Australia. Under the conditions of the grant, Novogen has committed to contributing A$1 million over the three-year life of the project, and UNSW will contribute up to A$300,000, in addition to the A$3 million provided by DIIS under the terms of the grant. In addition, the three parties will provide manpower and other in-kind resources to the project. The grant remains subject to finalisation of contractual negotiations between the three parties and the Federal Government.

Dr David Brown, Chief Scientific Officer at Novogen commented, "We are extremely honoured to receive this important grant from the Federal Government. I would like to congratulate Dr Stephen Palmer, Program Director for the project, who has worked tirelessly over the past six months to put forward a compelling application for this highly competitive award."

The CRC-P scheme was started in 2015 to support industry-led collaborations between industry and academia. A maximum of A$3 million is available in each grant, and a minimum of three Australian participants are required in the collaboration. The first round, in 2016, made 11 grants, and the second round, which includes Novogen's award, has funded 17 projects. The Novogen project is the first novel pharmaceutical drug discovery program funded by the CRC-P scheme. 

Novogen will be sharing further information on the project once contractual discussions are completed.

About Novogen Limited

Novogen Limited (ASX: NRT; NASDAQ: NVGN) is an emerging oncology-focused biotechnology company, based in Sydney, Australia. Novogen has a portfolio of four development candidates, diversified across three distinct technologies, with the potential to yield first-in-class and best-in-class agents across a range of oncology indications.

The lead program is GDC-0084, a small molecule inhibitor of the PI3K / AKT / mTOR pathway, which is being developed to treat glioblastoma multiforme. Licensed from Genentech in late 2016, GDC-0084 is anticipated to enter phase II clinical trials in 2017. Three further molecules have been developed in-house from two proprietary drug discovery platforms (superbenzopyrans and anti-tropomyosins) to treat ovarian cancer and a range of solid tumours. Cantrixil, the most advanced of these, commenced a first-in-human clinical study in patients with ovarian cancer in late 2016, while Anisina and Trilexium are in preclinical development.

For more information, please visit: www.novogen.com

SOURCE Novogen Limited

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