BERKELEY HEIGHTS, N.J., Jul 18, 2011 (GlobeNewswire via COMTEX) -- Cyclacel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Cyclacel or the Company), today announced that effective July 11, 2011, Cyclacel Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company, entered into an amendment of its license agreement, dated September 10, 2003 between Cyclacel Limited and Daiichi Sankyo Company, Limited ("Daiichi Sankyo") relating to certain rights which Cyclacel Limited has licensed from Daiichi Sankyo with regard to the Company's sapacitabine drug.
Pursuant to the amendment and taking into consideration the investment that the Company has made in progressing the development of sapacitabine, Daiichi Sankyo has irrevocably waived a termination right it possessed under a provision of the License Agreement that required the Company to obtain regulatory approval to sell sapacitabine in at least one country by September 2011, and has released the Company from all claims and liability of any kind arising under such provision. The amendment further provides that the royalty due from the Company to Daiichi Sankyo on future net sales of sapacitabine be increased by a percentage between 1.25% and 1.50% depending on the level of net sales of sapacitabine realized.
About Cyclacel Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Cyclacel is a biopharmaceutical company developing oral therapies that target the various phases of cell cycle control for the treatment of cancer and other serious diseases. Sapacitabine (CYC682), a cell cycle modulating nucleoside analog, is in Phase 3 development for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia in the elderly and Phase 2 studies for myelodysplastic syndromes and lung cancer. Seliciclib (CYC202 or R-roscovitine), a CDK (cyclin dependent kinase) inhibitor, is in Phase 2 studies for the treatment of lung cancer and nasopharyngeal cancer and in a Phase 1 trial in combination with sapacitabine. Cyclacel's ALIGN Pharmaceuticals subsidiary markets directly in the U.S. Xclair(R) Cream for radiation dermatitis, Numoisyn(R) Liquid and Numoisyn(R) Lozenges for xerostomia. Cyclacel's strategy is to build a diversified biopharmaceutical business focused in hematology and oncology based on a portfolio of commercial products and a development pipeline of novel drug candidates. Please visit www.cyclacel.com for additional information.