Sareum Regulatory News (SAR)

9 Feb 2006 07:01

Sareum Holdings PLC09 February 2006 For immediate release 9th February 2006 SAREUM HOLDINGS PLC ("Sareum" or the "Company") $5Million Research Collaboration with Idenix Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Sareum Holdings plc (AIM: SAR), the specialist structure-based drug discoveryand services business, is pleased to announce that it has entered into acollaborative research agreement with Idenix Pharmaceuticals, Inc (Idenix) todiscover novel hepatitis C compounds. Idenix is based in Cambridge, Mass, USA,and is engaged in the discovery, development and commercialization of innovativeanti-viral therapeutics. The aim of this collaboration, which is planned to run for approximately oneyear, is to generate lead chemical series for development by Idenix into noveldrug therapies for hepatitis C virus infection. This is the second collaborationbetween Sareum and Idenix; the first collaboration relating to HIV was announcedon 10 January 2006. Sareum will provide multi-disciplinary research teams to determine thethree-dimensional structures of two of Idenix's hepatitis C disease proteintargets and then deploy its innovative Template Screening method in an effort toidentify novel compounds suitable for optimisation into lead drug candidates,using its automated medicinal chemistry platform. In return, Sareum will receive research fees and milestone payments up to avalue of approximately US$5 million, dependent on success, plus an additionalmilestone payment if compounds from this collaboration advance to clinicaldevelopment. Commenting on this announcement, Sareum's Chief Executive Officer, Dr TimMitchell, said: "We are delighted to have signed this agreement. We are verypleased that Idenix have chosen Sareum for an additional collaboration. Thisprovides further validation of our capabilities and demonstrates that we are apartner of choice for structure-based lead generation and optimisation. We seethis as a significant advancement for Sareum." For further information please contact: Sareum Holdings +44 (0) 1223 497700Tim Mitchell, Chief Executive Officer Buchanan Communications +44 (0) 20 7466 5000Tim Anderson, Mary-Jane Johnson 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 About Idenix Pharmaceuticals, Inc Idenix Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company engaged in thediscovery and development of drugs for the treatment of human viral and otherinfectious diseases. Idenix current focus is on the treatment of infectionscaused by hepatitis B virus, hepatitis C virus and human immunodeficiency virus(HIV). About Hepatitis C Hepatitis C is an infectious liver disease caused by the hepatitis C virus(HCV). HCV infection becomes chronic in 75 to 85 percent(1) of individuals aftertheir initial infection. It is the most common chronic blood-borne infection inthe United States. Chronic HCV infection inflames the liver, causing progressiveliver damage that can lead to cirrhosis (liver scarring), hepatocellularcarcinoma (liver cancer), liver failure, and death. Hepatitis C related liverfailure is the most common indication for liver transplantation in the UnitedStates. Chronic hepatitis C generally progresses slowly; evidence of liverdisease typically appears 10 to 40 years after initial infection. In its earlystages, chronic hepatitis C is often asymptomatic or causes non-specificsymptoms such as fatigue. For this reason, most people who carry chronic HCVinfection are unaware of their condition. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 4 millionAmericans have been infected with HCV, and 2.7 million of these carry chronicHCV infections(2). Worldwide, the World Health Organization estimates that 170million individuals carry chronic HCV infection, with 3 to 4 million newinfections each year(1). Costs for providing care for patients withHCV-associated liver disease in the United States are estimated to be more than$750 million to several billion dollars annually, with societal costs at 5 timesthat amount; this cost is likely to increase in proportion to the expandingpatient population (1),(4),(5). As the prevalence of severe liver disease attributable to hepatitis C rises, deaths due to complications from hepatitis C infection, currently 8,000 to 10,000 per year in the United States, are increasing and expected to triple by 2010(3). References: (1) World Health Organization(2) Center for Disease Control(3) Davis G. et al. Liver Transplantation 2003; Vol 9, No 4:331-338(4) Zein NN. Clinical Significance of HCV genotypes (April 2004)(5) Yoo et al., The Journal of Infectious Diseases, January 2005(6) Strader et al., Hepatology. April 2004. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange