Immupharma Regulatory News (IMM)

11 Apr 2006 07:00

Immupharma PLC11 April 2006 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE London, 11 April 2006 ImmuPharma commences drawdown of prestigious research grants exceeding €1m ImmuPharma PLC (LSE:IMM), the specialist pharmaceutical discovery anddevelopment company, announced today that it has started drawing downindependent grants to assist with the development of its lead drug candidates.The grants which were approved in principle at the time of ImmuPharma's AIMadmission in February 2006,have been awarded by ANVAR and ANR, two French stateorganisations that support innovative and promising R&D programmes. These grantswere specifically dedicated to the preclinical and clinical development ofImmuPharma's lead compound Lupus IPP-201101 currently in Phase I and to the newclass of MRSA antibiotics IPP-203101 presently finishing preclinicaldevelopment. Dr Robert Zimmer, President and Chief Scientific Officer, commented: "We aredelighted to have been chosen for these grants, out of many companies that haveapplied. These grants are awarded to promising and solid research orientedcompanies that can demonstrate strong and innovative research efforts and theirability to conduct developments up to a stage where the products arecommercially viable. In addition to strengthening our cash position, receivingthese grants from ANVAR and ANR provides further independent validation byprestigious state organisations of ImmuPharma's strength in developing excitingnew drugs." For further information please contact: ImmuPharma PLC: Richard Warr, Executive Chairman: tel: +44 20 7152 4080Dimitri Dimitriou, Chief Executive Officer: tel: +44 20 7152 4080Dr Robert Zimmer, President & Chief Scientific Officer: tel: + 33 389 32 76 50 or Buchanan Communications: Lisa Baderoon, Director: tel: + 44 20 7466 5000 About ImmuPharma ImmuPharma PLC is a drug discovery and development company headquartered inLondon, UK and quoted on AiM of the London Stock Exchange (LSE:IMM). It hasresearch operations in France (ImmuPharma (France) SA) and Switzerland(ImmuPharma AG). ImmuPharma is dedicated to the development of novel drugs,largely based on peptide therapeutics, to treat serious medical conditions suchas autoimmune diseases characterised by: o blockbuster potential in niche markets o very high margin o low promotional costs in few specialised physicians and centres and ower risk of drug development and lower development costs ImmuPharma is a currently developing drug candidates for three different medicalconditions, each of which would represent a significant breakthrough in itsfield. The furthest advanced drug candidate targets Lupus, a disease for whichthere is currently no cure or specific treatment. The other two address moderateto severe pain (such as that experienced by cancer sufferers and post-operativepatients), and MRSA and similar severe hospital-acquired resistant infections. All three have significant sales potential as well as low marketing costs and arelatively low risk of development failure. One or more have the potential to befast-tracked by the US Food and Drug Administration according to "Guidance forIndustry: Fast Track Drug Development Programs - Designation, Development andApplication Review" issued July 2004 and could therefore obtain their marketauthorization by 2010. Key to the potential success of ImmuPharma is its unique collaborative agreementwith Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, France's scientific researchinstitution. This agreement grants ImmuPharma worldwide exclusive rights toexploit certain key discoveries. In addition to its three leading drug candidates, ImmuPharma has a drugdevelopment pipeline using its rights to a virtual chemical library of hundredsof thousands of molecules as well as an innovative technology for convertingpeptides to drug candidates. ImmuPharma has the option to commercialise its assets itself or to license themto other pharmaceutical companies at an earlier stage. Notes to editors: The products Treatment of Lupus (IPP-201101) This is a long-term treatment for Lupus, a chronic, life-threatening autoimmunedisease where the immune system attacks healthy cells. There is currently nocure and existing medications only treat the symptoms whereas ImmuPharma's drugcandidate has the potential to produce remission of the disease in a substantialproportion of patients. Based on independent forecasts, the value of ImmuPharma's Lupus drug isestimated to be "substantial" with peak annual sales forecast to generate inexcess of $4 billion. Severe pain relief (IPP-102199) ImmuPharma is developing a non-addictive compound for relieving moderate tosevere pain, such as experienced by cancer sufferers and post-surgical patients.Most existing treatments are opioid-based (explain) and tend to have seriousside effects. ImmuPharma's new treatment is based on met-enkephalin, the body'sinternal analgesic. IPP-102199 is being developed to have major advantages overmorphine such as longer pain relief duration and reduced side effects. Themarket for chronic opioids in the US currently exceeds $3.5 billion and isgrowing by more than 10 to 20 per cent a year. Antibiotic for MRSA and similar highly resistant infections (IPP-203101) This is a novel antibiotic to counter the effects of MRSA and other severehospital-acquired, resistant infections which affect some two million people inthe US, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.ImmuPharma's drug candidate uniquely uses an electrical charge rather thanbiochemical methods against MRSA and other bacterial strains. It is hoped thisnovel approach will reduce their potential to become resistant. Key management Richard Warr, MA, executive chairman, (age 45) has 20 years experience ininvestment banking and the capital markets. He was previously a director of ABNAmro; director and head of European sales and marketing at Credit Lyonnais;executive director at Dresdner Kleinwort Benson Securities Ltd; and head ofEuropean equity distribution at Swiss Bank Corporation. He has extensiveexperience in corporate and governmental equity capital market transactions. Dimitri F Dimitriou, MSc, chief executive officer, (age 45) has 20 yearsexperience in the pharmaceutical and biotech industry. He was senior director,worldwide business development, at GlaxoSmithKline, where his responsibilitiesincluded licensing deals, alliances and collaborations on a worldwide basis. Dr Robert Zimmer, MD, PhD, chief science officer, (age 58) began his career in1985 with Roche in Basle, where he was responsible for numerous Phase I studies.In 1990 he joined JAGO in Basle and, on its acquisition by SkyePharma, becamedirector and head of research and development at SkyePharma. His expertiseincludes managerial experience in multifunctional research and development andthe assessment of technologies with multi-national pharmaceutical companies. Paddy Walker-Taylor, FCA, MCT chief financial officer, (age 59) was previouslyfinance director of Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd. He was involved in the AIM float ofISG Group, in which McAlpine had a minority shareholding. Previously he had helda number of key financial positions including finance director of Woolworths plcand treasurer of Marks & Spencer. Douglas Paterson, MA, FCA, senior non-executive director, (age 62) has been achartered accountant for 37 years and was a senior audit partner at Coopers &Lybrand (now PricewaterhouseCoopers) for 22 years. He currently holds a numberof non-executive directorships, including Close Brothers Group plc and GoldmanSachs International Bank. Anthony Johnson, B Pharm (Hons), MSc, MRPharmS, non-executive director, (age 62)has over 30 years experience in the pharmaceutical industry, focused on thescientific aspects of deal making, support during competitive analysis,technical due diligence and input in development strategy. He was formerlysenior director of scientific licensing at SmithKline Beecham (nowGlaxoSmithKline). Collaboration with Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) ImmuPharma has important collaboration arrangements with Centre National de laRecherche Scientifique, France's scientific research institution, including aresearch collaboration agreement relating to the therapeutic use of peptides andpeptide derivatives. ImmuPharma has been granted the worldwide exclusive rightsto exploit all discoveries made under this agreement. ImmuPharma will co-own therelevant intellectual property with CNRS which will share in the revenuegenerated by ImmuPharma from exploiting CNRS's licensed and co-owned rights. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange