SMALL CAP IDEA: Why this £40m bet on an emerging cancer treatment may be perfectly timed

Roquefort Therapeutics is acquiring exclusive worldwide rights to a clinical-stage tumour inhibitor for £32m in an all-paper deal and raising £8.5 million, as appetite for early-stage cancer therapies reaches new highs

When Johnson and Johnson paid $3.05 billion for Halda Therapeutics in November 2025, it sent an unambiguous signal to the cancer drug market: oral therapies for advanced prostate cancer are worth serious money, even at phase I/II stage.

Roquefort Therapeutics is now moving to position itself squarely in that conversation.

The junior biotech, which currently trades at a market capitalisation of under £1.5 million, has struck a deal to acquire the exclusive worldwide licence to AO-252, an oral cancer drug already in active phase I trials in the United States. 

The reverse takeover values the asset at just shy of £32 million, with this sum satisfied in shares. It is accompanied by a placing to raise £8.5 million. For a company of Roquefort’s current size, securing that level of institutional backing is a significant vote of confidence.

On completion, the company will rename itself Coiled Therapeutics and trade under the ticker COIL on AIM.

The drug at the centre of the deal

AO-252 is an orally administered small molecule that targets TACC3, a protein over-expressed in many aggressive tumours. 

It is designed to disrupt the protein-protein interactions that cancer cells depend on to proliferate, and it can cross the blood-brain barrier, making it potentially relevant for patients whose cancer has spread beyond the primary site.

The drug is currently being tested in an open-label phase I study in the United States, enrolling patients with advanced solid tumours who have progressed after other treatments. 

Early results are encouraging. Tumour reductions of up to 29 per cent have been observed at relatively low dose levels, and the safety profile has so far been described as benign.

Preclinical work has demonstrated anti-tumour activity across ovarian, triple-negative breast, endometrial, gastric and prostate cancer. 

Following those results, the trial has expanded to focus specifically on ovarian and prostate cancer. The first prostate cancer patient was enrolled last November.

The company is targeting material data readouts by the fourth quarter of 2026, timed to support commercial and strategic partnering discussions with large pharmaceutical companies, with whom Coiled USA is already in active dialogue.

A market worth over $20 billion

The commercial backdrop is hard to ignore. Comparable approved cancer therapies targeting similar mechanisms currently generate over $20 billion annually. 

The J&J acquisition of Halda, for an asset at a similar development stage focused on hormone-resistant prostate cancer, illustrates the premium that large pharma is prepared to pay for well-positioned clinical programmes, before they reach late-stage trials.

Prostate cancer remains an area of significant unmet need. Patients with advanced disease that has become resistant to hormone therapy have limited oral options, and the search for effective, well-tolerated treatments continues to attract both clinical and corporate interest.

New leadership, personal stakes

The deal brings substantial changes at board level. 

Dr Sotirios Stergiopoulos, co-founder of the licensor Coiled USA, becomes Executive Chairman. Sridhar Vempati takes over as Chief Executive Officer. Both are investing £500,000 each into the placing. Stephen West, Roquefort’s current Executive Chairman, contributed £50,000 and transitions to a Non-Executive Director role.

That level of personal investment from incoming leadership matters. It aligns the new team directly with shareholders from day one and adds credibility to the ambition behind the deal.

What the £8.5 million funds

Net proceeds of approximately £7.7 million, after fees and commissions, will fund dose expansion studies and patient enrolment through 2026 and 2027, building toward the data required to plan registrational trials. The enlarged group will also assess Roquefort’s existing STAT-6 programme for Phase I clinical trials, giving the combined company a two-asset pipeline.

The transaction remains conditional on shareholder approval and AIM admission. On completion, Roquefort will cancel its current Main Market listing.

For a company valued at under £1.5 million before this announcement, the transformation is stark. The question now is whether AO-252 can deliver the clinical data to justify it.

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