ESSA Pharma, a pharmaceutical company, currently in the clinical development stage, focused on the development of small molecule drugs for the treatment of prostate cancer, announced the receipt of a $4 million payment from the Cancer Prevention Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT). The payment is part of a total non-dilutive grant of $12 million, repayable out of potential product revenues, which was originally awarded in February 29, 2014.

The payment recognizes eligible expenditures made by ESSA in conducting the phase I dose escalation trial currently underway, and also costs incurred in preparation for the phase II dose expansion clinical study expected to begin later this year. The company is eligible to receive a further $1.4 million upon satisfactory completion of financial and compliance filings with CPRIT.

"The financial support from CPRIT since 2014 has been instrumental to ESSA in building a top-tier team in Houston to guide the clinical development of EPI-506," said Dr. David R. Parkinson, ESSA president and chief executive officer.

The Company initiated the phase I/II clinical trial of EPI-506 in late 2015 and continues to dose patients in the phase I portion of the clinical trial at sites in the U.S. and Canada. The clinical trial is designed to demonstrate the safety, tolerability, maximum tolerated-dose, pharmacokinetics and efficacy of EPI-506 in the treatment of prostate cancer patients who have failed treatments using abiraterone or enzalutamide or both, the current standard-of-care drugs in metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC).