Sareum Regulatory News (SAR)

6 Oct 2009 07:00

SAREUM HOLDINGS PLC AND CANCER RESEARCH TECHNOLOGY LTD 

Chk1 Cancer Research Programme to be presented

at the NCRI Cancer Conference 2009

Sareum ("Sareum" or "the Company"), the specialist cancer drug discovery business and Cancer Research Technology Limited ("CRT"), the oncology focused development and commercialisation company, are pleased to announce publication of the latest results from their joint research collaboration with The Institute of Cancer Research ("The ICR").

Later today, a poster entitled "Biological Properties of the Novel Chk1 Inhibitor SAR-020106" will be presented at the National Cancer Research Institute ("NCRI") Cancer Conference, which is being held in Birmingham, UK. Of particular interest will be data that shows how this drug candidate, developed by Sareum and The ICR, can produce up to 2-fold increases in the efficacy of marketed cancer chemotherapeutics.

The science that leads to the development of this compound was recently published in the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry*. This paper describes how Sareum's expertise in fragment and structure-based drug discovery combined with cancer biology and medicinal chemistry expertise at The Institute successfully identified novel inhibitors of Chk1 (Checkpoint Kinase 1).

Chk1, the target of the joint research collaboration, is a key component of a biochemical pathway responsible for preventing the effectiveness of traditional cancer therapeutics such as chemotherapy. The aim of the collaboration is to develop novel cancer treatments with the potential to have efficacy against tumours which do not respond to chemotherapy and/or cause fewer adverse side-effects as a result of lower doses of chemotherapy being required.

* Matthews, T.P., et al. Identification of Inhibitors of Checkpoint Kinase 1 through Template Screening. J Medicinal Chemistry (2009), 52(15), 4810-4819.

Commenting on the announcement, Sareum's Chief Executive Officer, Dr Tim Mitchell, said: "We have made excellent progress in this highly successful cancer research collaboration and we are delighted to be presenting these latest advances."

Notes for editors: 

About Sareum Holdings plc

Sareum is a drug discovery company, headquartered in Cambridge UK, that is focused on producing targeted small molecule therapeutics to address unmet medical needs, primarily in cancer.

Sareum aims to successfully deliver drug candidates for licensing to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies at the pre-clinical or early clinical trials stage.

Sareum Holdings plc joined the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange in October 2004, trading under the symbol SAR. For further information, please visit www.sareum.co.uk

About Cancer Research Technology Limited

Cancer Research Technology Limited (CRT) is an oncology-focused development and commercialisation company that realises cancer patient benefit from publicly-funded research worldwide. CRT works closely with leading international cancer scientists, their institutes and funding bodies to protect, develop and commercialise oncology-related discoveries. CRT is wholly owned by Cancer Research UK, the largest independent funder of cancer research in the world. Further information about CRT can be found at www.cancertechnology.com.