Drais Pharmaceuticals, Inc and Diatos SA announced that they have entered into a global agreement to develop and commercialize DTS-108 for the treatment of solid tumour cancers. DTS-108 is currently ready to begin phase-I clinical trials in Europe for the treatment of patients with advanced or metastatic solid tumours.

Under the terms of the agreement, the license grants exclusive rights to Drais to develop and commercialize DTS-108 worldwide. In return, Diatos will receive an upfront payment, development milestones and sales milestones, plus royalties. The total value of the non-royalty portion of the partnership is valued at $46.9 million.

"We are very pleased to enter into this partnership with Diatos, which leverages both companies' unique experience and expertise," said Dr Donna L Tempel, president and chief executive officer of Drais Pharmaceuticals. "DTS-108 will become a key asset for Drais and we believe strongly in its potential to provide significant benefits over existing cancer therapies. This is a major step for Drais as we continue to build our therapeutic pipeline."

John Tchelingerian, president and chief executive officer of Diatos commented, "We are excited about this promising development and commercial cooperation with Drais, which represents another important step in the commercialization of the Diatos portfolio of compounds. We are confident that DTS-108 will fulfil its potential as a valuable addition to the physician's armamentarium in the treatment of cancer. This transaction also represents further validation of the Diatos Vectocell technology platform. Diatos has built its portfolio of drugs and drug candidates based on our proprietary pro-drug, drug delivery and targeting technologies, Tumour-Selective Prodrug (TSP) and Vectocell. The Vectocell platform generated the DTS-108 programme."

Rodman & Renshaw, LLC, served as the exclusive investment banking advisor to Diatos SA for the License Agreement.

DTS-108 is a pro-drug of SN38, the active metabolite of the widely-used anti-cancer chemotherapy drug irinotecan. DTS-108 has been designed, based on Diatos' Vectocell technology platform, to offer therapeutic advantages over unmodified SN38 and irinotecan.

Drais Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a privately held, drug development company dedicated to the in-licensing, development and commercialization of novel therapeutic treatments that address unmet medical needs, providing significant benefits over currently available therapies.

Diatos is privately owned and was founded in 1999. The company is headquartered in Paris, France with two subsidiaries in Leuven, Belgium and in the San Francisco Bay Area.