Original-Research: Vidac Pharma Holding Plc (von Sphene Capital GmbH): Buy

Classification of Sphene Capital GmbH to Vidac Pharma Holding Plc

Recent study supports Vidac Pharma’s innovative approach

A new scientific paper provides robust preclinical evidence that mitochondrial transplantation can be an effective strategy to increase the responsiveness of tumour cells to established chemotherapeutic agents in lower doses, thus significantly reducing their side effects. It also contributes significantly to the understanding of the role of mitochondria in tumour biology and opens up new perspectives for combinatorial therapy concepts, strongly confirming the Vidac Pharma approach, which is already proven in clinical studies and is based on a similar mechanism, i.e. preventing hexokinase 2 from binding to the VDAC channel in the mitochondria, thereby stopping the hyperglycolysis characteristic of cancer (“Warburg Effect”) and promoting the immunological response in the tumour environment. Using a sum-of-the-parts, multi-stage discounted cash flow (DCF) model, in which the two pipeline candidates—VDA-1102 for actinic keratosis (AK) and VDA-1102 for cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL)—are valued separately, we maintain our price target of EUR 4.30 per share and reiterate our Buy recommendation for the shares of Vidac Pharma.

A recent study by S. Lin et al (Cancer Biol Med, 2025/22, p 648-671) investigated the hypothesis that the transplantation of functional mitochondria into tumour cells can increase sensitivity to chemotherapeutic substances. The work focuses on the observation that mitochondrial dysfunction plays an essential role in chemoresistance, particularly in solid tumours, confirming the approach that dysfunctional mitochondria are associated with increased glycolysis (Warburg effect), reduced oxidative phosphorylation, and inhibited apoptosis. The authors also show that the transplantation of functional mitochondria from healthy cells represents an innovative approach to modulate the metabolic flexibility of cancer cells and increase their vulnerability to chemotherapy. In vitro, an increased sensitivity to the chemotherapeutic agents used was observed after mitochondrial transplantation, which manifested itself in increased apoptosis and reduced cell proliferation. A significant reduction in tumour volume was also observed in vivo with simultaneous mitochondrial transplantation and chemotherapy, underlining the clinical relevance of the approach. The discussion emphasises that mitochondrial transplantation not only induces an energy metabolism effect, but also influences signalling pathways that are central to the decision between survival and apoptosis. All these findings confirm the results of Vidac Pharma's clinical studies, according to which the restoration of mitochondrial function makes tumour cells less effective in resorting to anti-apoptotic mechanisms and increases their sensitivity to chemotherapeutic drugs.