Ananda Developments - Drug Supply Agreement Signed

14 November 2023 

ANANDA DEVELOPMENTS PLC 

("Ananda", the "Company" or the "Group") 

Drug Supply Agreement Signed

Ananda Developments plc (AQSE: ANA), a company whose ambition is to be a leading provider of cannabinoid-based medicines for the treatment of chronic, complex inflammatory pain conditions, is pleased to announce that its wholly owned subsidiary MRX Medical Limited ("MRX") has signed a Drug Supply Agreement ("DSA") with the University of Edinburgh ("UofE") and the Lothian Health Board ("LHB").

Highlights

·      As announced on 9^th March 2023, UofE and LHB are leading a Randomised Controlled Trial ("RCT") on the use of cannabidiol ("CBD") versus placebo in the treatment of chemotherapy induced peripheral neuropathic pain ("CIPN").

·      MRX's patent pending MRX1 cannabidiol oil formulation will be used as the Investigative Medicinal Product ("IMP") in the trial. MRX is supplying the MRX1 CBD formulation and matched placebo.

·      MRX has been granted a licence over all arising (generated from the trial) Intellectual Property ("IP") for internal research and development purposes, as well as an option to licence the arising IP for all commercial purposes. MRX will maintain full ownership of all IP as relates to the IMP and Placebo.

Ananda's CEO, Melissa Sturgess commented: "The drug supply agreement provides the legal framework for the provision of MRX1, our patent pending cannabinoid medicine, to the CIPN randomised controlled trial. Importantly it also confirms that MRX retains full IP ownership of the medicine and provides Ananda with a pathway to utilise the IP from the trial for commercial purposes. This will be a crucial part of Ananda's value if the trial is successful and the medicine is able to be commercialised via the NHS."

The RCT, funded by a £1.25m non-dilutive grant, is being led by Professor Marie Fallon a leading researcher at UofE. Professor Fallon is the St Columba's Hospice Chair of Palliative Medicine and Honorary Consultant in Palliative Care and has 256 publications and over 10,000 citations to her name. The trial will be a double-blind crossover trial, located at Western General Hospital with a 92‑patient recruitment plan.

CIPN is a common and debilitating side effect of chemotherapy with approximately 160,000 new cases per year in the UK, with a prevalence 3 months after a chemotherapy treatment of 60%. There are no preventative treatments for CIPN, and symptomatic management is commonly ineffective. The CIPN global market was valued at US$1bn in 2021 and is estimated to reach US$1.5bn in 2030 and given most treatments are ineffective, the Directors believe that this figure does not accurately reflect the true market size.

Rationale for the research:

1.    CIPN is a common condition and distressing to patients with no preventative options and no effective treatment to date.

2.    Self-medication with cannabis is common, but clinical use lacks empirical evidence on efficacy and safety.

3.    This research addresses calls from NICE and IASP (International Association for the Study of Pain) for cannabis-based medicine research. Following their reviews of the evidence, this research aligns with their recommendations for the choice of CBD and methodology (IASP) in CBD trials.

4.    In addition, the trials are following guidelines for assessments in CIPN trials and have added mechanistic assessments.

5.    There is strong preclinical evidence to match CIPN and CBD.

To stay abreast of the latest developments at Ananda, we encourage you to follow our social media channels which are:  

·              Instagram: https://instagram.com/anandadevelopments?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=   

·              LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/anadevelopments/

·              Twitter: https://twitter.com/anandaplc?s=21&t=9yeIC_xYCfzgDn7j26sfuA   

·              Investor Meet Company: https://www.investormeetcompany.com/ananda-developments-plc/register-investor

-Ends-  

The Directors of the Company accept responsibility for the contents of this announcement.  

About Ananda Developments  

Ananda is an AQSE-listed company whose ambition is to be a leading provider of cannabinoid-based medicines for the treatment of complex, chronic inflammatory pain conditions. 

For more information, please visit: https://anandadevelopments.com/

Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) Disclosure  

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information. Upon the publication of this announcement via a Regulatory Information Service, this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.