14 Apr 2015 07:00
14 April 2015
Midatech Pharma PLC
("Midatech", the "Company" or the "Group")
Research Collaboration Signed with National Cancer Center for Targeted Nanomedicines against Glioblastoma
Midatech Pharma (AIM: MTPH), the international specialty pharmaceutical with a diversified portfolio of high-value assets, today announces the signature of a new research collaboration with Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (Dana Farber), a principal teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, one of the US's premier cancer centers.
Under the terms of the collaboration, Midatech Pharma and Dana-Farber will test the preclinical effectiveness of Midatech's targeted nanomedicines against Glioblastoma (a type of brain cancer). The collaboration aims to find the most effective treatments to take into Glioblastoma patients as rapidly as possible, given the current unmet medical need. Gliobastoma represents approximately 17% of all primary brain tumors (about 60-75% of all astrocytomas) and is difficult to treat due to the involvement of different cell types1. No financial terms were disclosed.
Commenting on the collaboration, Dr. Jim Philips, CEO of Midatech Pharma, said, "This collaboration demonstrates the growing interest in our technology across a range of therapeutic compounds and for specifically targeting certain types of cancer cells. Glioblastoma is a very common but hard to treat brain cancer condition with poor survival rates. Our goal is to develop an effective treatment that transforms patient outcomes via our collaboration with Dana-Farber."
Dr. David Reardon, Clinical Director at the Center for Neuro-Oncology at Dana-Farber and Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, said, "We are very excited by the potential of Midatech's Nanomedicines to effectively target brain tumours. We will now work alongside Midatech Pharma as expediently as possible to progress these candidates through development with the goal of delivering an effective treatment to glioblastoma patients around the world, where currently there is a huge unmet medical need."
References
1American Brain Tumor Association, http://www.abta.org/brain-tumor-information/types-of-tumors/glioblastoma.html
For more information, please contact:
Midatech Pharma plc
Jim Phillips, Chief Executive Officer
Tel: +44 (0)1235 841575
www.midatechpharma.com
Consilium Strategic Communications
Mary Jane Elliott / Ivar Milligan / Matthew Neal / Hendrik Thys
Tel: +44 (0)20 3709 5700
midatech@consilium-comms.com
Panmure Gordon (UK) Limited (Nominated Adviser and Broker)
Tel: +44 (0)20 7886 2500
Corporate Finance
Freddy Crossley / Adam James / Atholl Tweedie / Duncan Monteith
Broking
Tom Salvesen
About Midatech Pharma PLC
Midatech Pharma is a nanomedicine company developing and commercialising multiple therapeutic products to enhance the delivery of medicines in major diseases with high unmet medical needs. The Group has a strong pipeline of product candidates in clinical and pre-clinical development with a clear focus on the key therapeutic areas of diabetes, cancer and neurological/ophthalmological diseases.
Right place. Right time. Central to Midatech's business are two platform technologies that are designed to enable the targeted delivery and controlled release of existing drugs. Midatech's core platform is a pioneering drug conjugate delivery system based on gold-nanoparticles (GNPs) combined with existing drugs for targeted release at specific organs, cells or sites of disease. The Group's secondary platform (acquired through the acquisition of Q Chip in 2014) involves the consistent and precise encapsulation of active drug compounds within polymer microspheres that are designed to release the drug into the body in a highly controlled manner over a prolonged period of time.
The Group has collaborations with a number of speciality and major pharmaceutical companies and academic institutions to develop its platform technologies across a broad range of programmes within Midatech's priority therapeutic areas. The business strategy is to expedite the pipeline developments into revenue opportunities.
Midatech operates an in-house state-of-the-art nanoparticle manufacturing facility, based in Bilbao, Spain. The site has capacity for manufacturing sufficient materials for clinical trials and is fully licensed by the Spanish Medicines Agency for European compliance.
The Group is headquartered in Oxford, UK and employs 53 staff including 14 in Oxford, UK, 17 in Cardiff, UK and 18 in Bilbao, Spain. Across the Group there are 32 qualified scientists. For further company information see: www.midatechgroup.com.
About Dana Farber Cancer Institute
Since its founding in 1947, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, Massachusetts has been committed to providing adults and children with cancer with the best treatment available today while developing tomorrow's cures through cutting-edge research.
Today, the Institute employs nearly 4,000 people supporting more than 300,000 patient visits a year, is involved in some 700 clinical trials, and is internationally renowned for its blending of research and clinical excellence. The Institute's expertise in these two aspects of the fight against cancer uniquely positions it to develop and test the next generation of cancer therapies in both the laboratory and the clinic.
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute is a principal teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School, a federally designated Center for AIDS Research, and a founding member of the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center, a federally designated comprehensive cancer center.