ValiRx Share News (VAL)

Shares in life science company ValiRx rose on Tuesday morning after the AIM-listed company announced that it would be presenting at the American Association for Cancer Research Conference this year.The conference, which was attended by approximately 17,000 delegates last year, is seen as a key event designed to showcase and bring together developments in major areas of cancer research.The company said that its participation in the upcoming conference on April 6th represented the first time it had been selected to give a presentation at the event. The company further reported that a "number of key milestones" had been achieved, in particular for VAL 201, the company's anti-cancer therapeutic which has been in the clinical development phase for prostate cancer since the summer of 2012. Having been in dialogue with regulatory authorities, ValiRx said it was finalising the associated regulatory activities for the first-in-man studies - commonly termed phase 1a and Ib/IIa studies. The phase 1a studies are expected to complete in 2013, subject to suitable patient access.The company's other key compound - VAL 101 - a development programme for down regulation of rebellious genes, was described as being at an "advanced pre-clinical stage". Satu Vainikka, Chief Executive Officer of ValiRx, said: "Our technical and commercial progress over the past year has been pleasing and we are well set for the future as we look to further establish ourselves at the forefront of personalised oncology development."ValiRx's share price was up 4.04% to 0.52p at 08:37 on Tuesday.MF