Novogen NASDAQ Listing Upgraded to National Board

ASX listed pharmaceutical company, Novogen Limited (code: NRT) has announced that its stock has been upgraded to the Nasdaq National Market (code: NVGN), in the United States (US).

Novogen shares have traded in the form of American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) on the Nasdaq SmallCap Market, since January 1999.

Novogen’s Managing Director, Mr Christopher Naughton, said the upgrade was recognition that the Company had achieved critical mass in the competitive US market.

“Admission to the National board signifies that Novogen has achieved the necessary market turnover and US shareholder base to trade in an expanded and more widely reported market,” Mr Naughton said.

“This is a significant achievement in the current market and a milestone for an Australian pharmaceutical company.”

Novogen stock will continue to trade on Nasdaq in the form of ADRs, with one ADR being equivalent to five ordinary Australian shares.

The Bank of New York is the depositary for the ADRs.

According to Mr Naughton, an important consideration in pursuing a Nasdaq listing is the growing interest in the USA in the Company’s ongoing intellectual property portfolio, particularly in the pharmaceutical sector.

“This portfolio is based on Novogen’s pre-eminence in the field of phenolic hormones and the potential for the development of these hormones as important new pharmaceuticals,” Mr Naughton said

One of these hormones, NV-06, is a synthetic version of a naturally-occurring human phenolic hormone discovered by Novogen scientists that has shown potent and novel anti-cancer activity against human cancer cells. NV06 is a potent inhibitor of topoisomerases and protein tyrosine kinases, enzyme systems important to the cancer process.

The Company is developing the compound for the treatment of prostate cancer, the most common cause of cancer related deaths in men and on 7 February 2000, announced the commencement of Phase 1 clinical trials in prostate cancer patients.

The Phase 1 trial, being conducted at a major public hospital in Sydney, Australia, is providing important preliminary information on the use of NV06 in an intravenous form in patients with malignant cancer.

Results of the trial will form part of a submission to the United States, Food and Drug Administration (FDA), for approval for human clinical trials to be conducted in cancer patients in the USA during the second half of this calendar year.

Novogen has established a pilot production facility for the manufacture of NV-06 to approved pharmaceutical standards and will manufacture the drug throughout the clinical development program.

The market for a prostate cancer treatment is considerable, with more than 300,000 new cases of the disease diagnosed each year in the US, alone and no universally satisfactory therapeutic treatments currently available.

The Australian Government’s R&D; Start program has provided funding of up to $2.79M to assist in the development of NV-06.

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