Transposon Therapeutics, a biotechnology company developing a platform of novel, orally administered therapies for the treatment of neurodegenerative and ageing-related diseases, announced on Thursday that it has acquired a portfolio of novel nucleoside analogues from PrimeFour Therapeutics Inc, a biotechnology company focused on cancer chemotherapeutic agents.

The nucleosides portfolio includes a chemically diverse library of unique analogues with the most advanced lead compounds being nucleosides that cause 'synthetic lethality' in cancers characterised by distinct tumour-defined genetic signatures, enabling them to be precisely targeted to the most susceptible cancers with reduced toxicity. These compounds target cancers with newly discovered genetic biomarkers that are present in pancreatic and certain other solid tumours and in haematologic cancers, enabling personalised therapy in those patients most likely to respond to treatment.

Eckard Weber, Transposon MD, founder and chief innovation officer, said: "This transaction allows us to build upon our leadership in developing first-in-class and best-in-class nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors for neurodegenerative and autoimmune diseases, including ALS, PSP and Alzheimer's disease. We are excited to expand our pipeline to include this portfolio of potent nucleoside chemotherapeutics with significant therapeutic potential against a variety of cancers. We look forward to advancing the lead compounds into preclinical development to target DNA-damage repair deficient cancers, such as pancreatic and colorectal cancers."