Sareum Regulatory News (SAR)

20 Nov 2006 07:01

Sareum Holdings PLC20 November 2006 For immediate release 20 November 2006 SAREUM HOLDINGS PLC ("Sareum" or the "Company") Multi-Target Genentech Agreement Sareum Holdings plc (AIM: SAR), the specialist structure-based drug discoverybusiness, is pleased to announce that it has entered into an initial 12-monthmulti-target research services agreement with Genentech, Inc., a leadingbiotechnology company. Under the terms of this agreement, Sareum will apply its skills in highthroughput protein expression, purification and structure determination onmultiple drug discovery targets designated by Genentech. In return, Sareum will receive research fees and may receive specificsuccess-dependent milestone payments, with a combined value in excess of $1.5million. The agreement also provides an option to extend the agreement for afurther 12 months. Commenting on the agreement, Sareum's Chief Executive Officer, Dr Tim Mitchell,said: "I am delighted that Genentech has chosen Sareum as a collaborator inprotein structure determination. I regard this multi-target collaboration as anoutstanding validation of Sareum's technology and expertise." For further information: Sareum Contacts: Sareum Holdings 01223 497700Tim Mitchell, Chief Executive Officer Buchanan Communications 020 7466 5000Tim Anderson, Mary-Jane Johnson, Simon Potter Notes for editors: About Sareum Holdings plc Sareum Holdings plc is a structure-based drug discovery business headquarteredin Cambridge, UK. Sareum Limited was formed in August 2003 to discover new drugsfor the treatment of cancer and to provide a range of drug discovery services tothe pharmaceutical industry. Sareum's unique approach aims to halve the time ittakes to discover new drug candidates. A structure-based approach to drug discovery relies on knowledge of thethree-dimensional structure of the proteins that cause disease. Once thestructure is known, potential drugs are designed to 'lock-in' to the proteinwith the aim of reversing or arresting a disease's progression. Knowledge of thestructure of the potential drugs and how they 'lock-in' to the protein permitsthe best potential drug to be discovered. Determining structure is a complextask and requires leading-edge equipment and experienced staff. Sareum'sapproach to structure determination is to produce multiple recombinant proteinsprimarily through a baculovirus expression system and to determine theirstructure using x-ray crystallography. When the structure is determined, the Company's innovative Template Screeningplatform is used to identify novel chemical starting material designed tointeract with the target protein. Sareum then uses its high-throughput medicinalchemistry platform to rapidly optimise these molecules and develop the mostpromising into potential drug candidates. Sareum provides its specialist drug discovery capabilities to partners in thepharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. The Company aims to successfullydeliver: Programmes for complete gene-to-candidate structure-based discovery;projects to accelerate or improve the productivity of specific activities; anddrug candidates for licensing at the Phase I or Phase II clinical trials stage. Sareum joined the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange in October 2004 andtrades under the symbol SAR. For further information, please visitwww.sareum.co.uk This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange