MEI Pharma Board of Directors Aligns on Strategy to Advance Voruciclib and ME-344

MEI Pharma, Inc. (Nasdaq: MEIP), a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company evaluating novel drug candidates to address known resistance mechanisms to standard-of-care cancer therapies, today reported that the Company’s Board of Directors unanimously agreed on a strategic plan to leverage recent positive voruciclib and ME-344 clinical data to prioritize clinical development of voruciclib while enabling development of a new ME-344 formulation for Phase 1 study. Additionally, the Company’s Board of Directors unanimously determined not to proceed with a second return of capital under the October 31, 2023 Anson Funds and Cable Car Capital cooperation agreement in order to conserve resources and align strategic investment, and thereby extend the Company’s operational runway.

“We are very fortunate as a development-stage therapeutics company to have two very promising oncology candidates, voruciclib and ME-344, that continue to generate data supporting their potential as novel therapeutics to benefit patients with cancer. With the MEI Board aligned around our strategy, we have a productive framework to advance both clinical programs in a manner intended to address significant medical needs while prioritizing a measured and objective-based allocation of our resources,” said David Urso, president and chief executive officer of MEI Pharma. “Voruciclib, our investigational oral CDK9 inhibitor, in combination with venetoclax is being developed to treat patients with relapsed/refractory AML without an actionable mutation, representing a potential opportunity to address more patients in a mutation agnostic approach than mutation specific therapies such as FLT3, IDH or menin inhibitors. In addition, investigational ME-344 has the potential to treat patients across many types of solid tumors through a novel therapeutic strategy in combination with VEGF inhibitors, such as Avastin, to create synthetic lethality in tumor cells.”

“The entire MEI Board is pleased to unanimously align around a strategy that we believe is in the best interests of the Company’s shareholders, with the intent to optimize the opportunity to judiciously advance both of the voruciclib and ME-344 development programs,” stated Taheer Datoo, director of MEI Pharma and principal and portfolio manager of Anson Funds. “Under the strategy, use of capital is measured and balanced to achieve key clinical objectives designed to optimize the development potential these product candidates hold to advance the standard of care for patients with cancer while also optimizing the interests of our shareholders.”