Nanoco Regulatory News (NANO)

16 Mar 2007 07:01

Evolutec Group PLC16 March 2007 For immediate release 16 March 2007 Evolutec Group plc ("Evolutec" or "Company") Evolutec and Merial renew Option Agreement Evolutec Group plc (AIM: EVO), the biopharmaceutical company developing novelproducts for the treatment of allergic, inflammatory and autoimmune diseases,announces that Merial Limited, a world-leading, innovation-driven animal healthcompany, has signed a new option agreement covering the animal health uses ofEvolutec's vaccine technology. This new option agreement allows Merial time to complete studies commenced in2006. It also builds on the positive result announced in 2005 in which Merialdemonstrated that Evolutec's vaccine technology significantly reduced the levelof Boophilus tick infestation in cattle, a cause of major productivity lossesdue to disease transmission, hide (skin) damage and anaemia. The agreement grants Merial a 12 month option to acquire exclusive worldwiderights to Evolutec's vaccine technology to animal health uses in return forlicensing and milestone fees and a royalty on sales. Detailed financial termswere not disclosed. Merial's development programme will evaluate Evolutec's technology in the areaof vaccines against important tick-borne diseases in production and companionanimals and anti-tick vaccines. Any future development work will be undertakenat Merial's expense. ENDS Enquiries: Evolutec 0118 922 4480Mark Carnegie Brown, Chief Executive OfficerNicholas Badman, Chief Financial Officerwww.evolutec.co.uk Numis 020 7776 1500Michael Meade Financial Dynamics 020 7831 3113David YatesBen Brewerton Notes for Editors: About Evolutec Evolutec, which is based in Reading, UK, is a clinical stage biopharmaceuticalcompany with a focus on asthma and auto-immune diseases. rEV576, the Company's lead product development candidate is a complementinhibitor which has demonstrated preclinical activity against the autoimmunediseases myasthenia gravis and Guillain-Barre Syndrome, asthma and acutemyocardial infarction ("AMI") (heart attack). Evolutec has established aresearch collaboration with Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, toundertake further preclinical work with rEV576 in myasthenia gravis. Evolutec is listed on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange and developstherapeutics originally isolated from the saliva of ticks. The tick remainsundetected by its hosts, including humans, by injecting an array of moleculesinto the skin that suppresses host immunity. These stealth molecules haveundergone millions of years of natural evolution to select a promising efficacy,potency and safety profile. Evolutec employs the tick's evolutionary stealthtechnology to offer the potential of treating human diseases. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange