Sareum Regulatory News (SAR)

26 Jan 2006 07:01

Sareum Holdings PLC26 January 2006 For immediate release 26th January 2006 SAREUM HOLDINGS PLC ("Sareum" or the "Company") Crystal Bank Collaboration with UCB Sareum Holdings plc (AIM: SAR), the specialist structure-based drug discoveryand services business, is pleased to announce that it has entered into acollaborative agreement with UCB, (Euronext: UCB), a global biopharmaceuticalleader with annual revenues over • 2 billion and headquarters in Brussels,Belgium, to provide protein structure determination capabilities to accelerateUCB's cancer drug discovery research. Sareum will provide UCB with access to its Crystal Bank protein structures thatare drug discovery targets in several therapeutic areas. Sareum will thengenerate structures of selected proteins engaged with UCB's potential drugcandidates. This detailed structural information aims to illustrate the precisenature of how UCB's potential drug candidates interact with their targetreceptor proteins, thus assisting UCB's scientists in their search for new andimproved therapeutics in a number of clinical indications. In return, Sareum will receive access fees and success milestone payments.Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Commenting on the agreement, Sareum's Chief Executive Officer, Dr Tim Mitchell,said: "We are delighted that UCB has chosen Sareum as their partner in proteinstructure determination. This is a further important collaboration that Sareumhas signed with a global pharmaceutical company and an additional example of howour Crystal Bank protein structure resource is providing revenues to support ourin-house drug discovery programs." Commenting on the agreement, UCB's Mark Busfeild, Vice President, NCE Research,said: "UCB recognises the value provided by Sareum's Crystal Bank service. Itprovides us with rapid access to crystal structures with our own proprietarycompounds, complementing our internal structural biology capabilities." For further information please contact: Sareum Holdings 01223 497700Tim Mitchell, Chief Executive Officer Buchanan Communications 020 7466 5000Tim Anderson, Mary-Jane Johnson About Sareum Holdings plcSareum Holdings plc is a specialist structure based drug discovery and servicesbusiness headquartered in Cambridge, UK. The Company was formed in August 2003to discover new drugs for the treatment of cancer and to provide a range of drugdiscovery services to the pharmaceutical industry. Sareum's unique approach aimsto halve the time it takes to discover new drug candidates. Structure-based drug discovery involves the determination of a disease causingprotein's three-dimensional structure. Once the structure is known, novelchemical entities are designed to 'lock-in' to the protein with the aim ofreversing or arresting a disease's progression. Sareum's approach to structure based drug discovery is to produce multiplerecombinant proteins primarily through a baculovirus expression system;determine their structure using x-ray crystallography; and then use itsinnovative template-molecule x-ray screening technology to identify new chemicalentities designed to interact with the target protein. Sareum then uses itshigh-throughput medicinal chemistry platform to rapidly synthesise furthermolecules and develop the most promising 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 About Crystal BankSareum's Crystal Bank is a highly valuable resource for clients requiring fastturnaround of structural data that shows how their compounds bind with selectedprotein targets. Such information accelerates the validation and selection ofnovel lead compounds and is therefore invaluable at both the hit-to-lead and thelead optimisation stages of drug discovery research. Crystal Bank is a unique and expanding collection of important protein targetsthat are known to be of significant therapeutic relevance. These proteins comefrom a range of protein classes and have all been analysed and understood to alevel where we can rapidly and cost-effectively generate ligand co-complexstructural data for our clients' compounds. The co-complex structural data, andthe associated understanding of the Structure-Activity Relationship, help ourclients to: • Prioritise leads based on actual and potential interactions with proteins • Boost ligand potency • Overcome selectivity issues • Identify sites to attach PK-modifying groups without affecting potency or selectivity • Identify lead hopping opportunities Sareum's Crystal Bank currently comprises 17 structures, including Bcl-2, GSK3beta, p38 MAP kinase, CDK2/Cyclin A2, Zap-70, Erk2 and PPAR delta. The full listis available on request.About UCB. UCB (www.ucb-group.com) is a global biopharmaceutical leader with headquartersin Brussels, Belgium, specializing in the fields of central nervous systemdisorders, allergy and respiratory diseases, immune and inflammatory disorders,as well as oncology. UCB key products are Keppra(R) (antiepileptic), Xyzal(R)and Zyrtec(R) (antiallergics), Nootropil(R) (cerebral function regulator),Tussionex(TM) (antitussive) and Metadate(TM) / Equasym XL(TM) (attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder). UCB employs over 8,500 people operating in over 40countries. UCB is listed on Euronext Brussels (UCB / UCBBt.BR / UCB BB). This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange