Acne deal blow won’t put firm on the spot

The Bradford-based group, which was spun out of Leeds University, said all rights for the compound will now revert to Syntopix.

It added that the decision is not expected to have a material impact on either the group’s cash flows or expected results for the current financial year.

Under the terms of the deal, the global company was granted the rights of first refusal to negotiate a separate agreement for further development and eventual commercialisation of the SYN1113 compound.

But having considered its internal development pipeline of product opportunities, the company decided not to progress any further.

Syntopix said that since signing the agreement, it has significantly enhanced the data to support the efficacy of the compound.

Syntopix said two human use studies of SYN1113 have been conducted, the latter study (in 30 volunteers with acne-prone skin) was tested together with a leading consumer brand.

It said that SYN1113 performed equally well, and in some cases better, than the global brand leader.

Syntopix said a consumer feedback trial of SYN1113 against the leading brand showed that participants believed SYN1113 was a good product and scored higher than the brand leader for the immediate treatment of spots.

SYN1113 was also rated positively for helping to clear up spots, reduce spot size quickly and reduce inflammation.

Dr Stephen Jones, chief executive of Syntopix said: “Receiving full rights back for SYN1113 from our partner removes certain commercial restrictions and we are now able to market this technology to a broader range of pharmaceutical and consumer healthcare companies.”