Notice of Dispute lodged with Stalicla SA

Alderley Park, UK - 9 February 2024: Evgen Pharma plc (AIM: EVG, Evgen), a clinical stage drug development company developing sulforaphane-based medicines, has issued a notice of dispute with Stalicla SA (Stalicla) its partner in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and other neurodevelopmental disorders.

In October 2022, Evgen licensed the global rights for lead asset SFX-01 in neurodevelopmental disorders and schizophrenia to Stalicla for up to $160.5m in milestone payments. An initial $0.5m was paid upfront with the next anticipated payment of $0.5m due on completion of the Evgen-sponsored human volunteer Phase 1 study.

The Phase 1b human volunteer study was completed and the clinical study report finalised in August 2023.

As announced on 16 January 2024, Evgen has been working with Stalicla on delivery of the associated milestone payment. The board of Evgen believes that the Company has met the terms required to satisfy the milestone, according to the License Agreement, and thus the payment is now due. In order to effect the payment, Evgen has taken the decision to formally implement the dispute resolution process detailed in the License Agreement, the first step of which is the issuance of a dispute notice.

As stated in the half year results in October 2023, Evgen has not anticipated any milestone payments from Stalicla in its financial forecasting and its cash runway remains unchanged.

Dr Huw Jones, Evgen CEO commented:

"We continue to work closely with our partner for a quick and amicable resolution of the current dispute. We have taken a prudent approach of not recognising any milestone income in our cash projections and therefore the cash position remains unchanged. In the meantime we continue at pace with our internal programmes in oncology which are proceeding to plan."