CHENGDU, China, Feb. 20, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Hox Therapeutics Ltd ("Hox") a private biotechnology company developing highly targeted cancer therapies and Vernalis (R&D) Ltd ("Vernalis"), a fully owned subsidiary of HitGen Inc., are pleased to announce a collaboration to identify inhibitors against an undisclosed oncology target.

Under the terms of the agreement, Vernalis will use its state-of-the-art protein science and Hit ID platforms to produce the target protein, and to identify and characterise small molecule inhibitors of the target. The research at Vernalis will be funded by Hox. Financial terms have not been disclosed.

James Murray, Research Director of Vernalis, said, "This partnership is built on Vernalis's strong record for innovation in drug discovery to generate clinical candidates. We look forward to working closely with Hox to successfully achieve the goals of this collaboration".

Nicholas Adams, CEO of Hox Therapeutics, said, "We are delighted to be working with Vernalis on this project. They have proven expertise in being able to identify inhibitors against the protein target that we're interested in".

About Hox Therapeutics Ltd

Hox Therapeutics is a preclinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of innovative, highly targeted medicines for the treatment of cancer.

For more information, please visit www.hoxtherapeutics.com 

About Vernalis

Vernalis is a world leader in fragment and structure-based drug discovery with a record of progressing targets from concept to clinic. Based in Cambridge, UK, we have generated development candidates across oncology, neurodegeneration, anti-infectives and inflammation, through global collaborations. Vernalis is a wholly owned subsidiary of HitGen Inc (688222.SH).

For more information about Vernalis, please visit www.vernalis.com