SUMM.L Regulatory News (SUMM)

27 Jun 2007 07:01

VASTox plc27 June 2007 VASTox plc ("VASTox" or "the Company") VASTOX ANNOUNCES SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS IN PHARMACEUTICAL SERVICES BUSINESS • Pilot screening deals signed in zebrafish platform with top tier pharmaceutical companies worth in excess of €300,000 • Completion of carbohydrate chemistry GMP clinical scale-up facility Oxford, UK, 27 June 2007 - VASTox plc (AIM: VOX), a leading UK biotechnologycompany, announces that it has entered into a series of pilot screeningagreements with major pharmaceutical companies, including Merck KGaA, Johnson &Johnson (Pharmaceutical Research & Development, Belgium) and Servier. Together,the deals are worth in excess of €300,000 in service revenues to VASTox during2007. VASTox will use its market-leading zebrafish technology platform to blind-screenselections of known compounds for safety and toxicity to validate to its clientshow this technology can predict unwanted side effects. It is the Company's aimto develop these relationships into higher-value, longer-term partnerships. A strategy of internal growth and focused acquisitions over the past 18 monthshas seen VASTox assemble the most advanced and extensive zebrafish technologyplatform in the world. This versatile organism is proving highly valuable indrug discovery because it can be used to predict the safety of potential drugcandidates as well as to develop a wide range of models of human diseasesincluding neuro-disorders and regenerative medicine, therapeutic areas in whichVASTox has drug discovery programmes. Completion of GMP Facility VASTox also announces today that it has completed, on-time and on-budget, theconstruction of its GMP facility located at its subsidiary company, DextraLaboratories, which specialises in carbohydrate chemistry. The GMP facilitywill allow VASTox to produce material in sufficient quantities for use in humanclinical trials up to the Phase II stage of clinical development. In order to ensure the facility is fully GMP compliant, VASTox will perform atest run to produce material for one of its own drug discovery programmes withthe facility receiving its first fee-paying client by the end of July 2007. Steven Lee, PhD, CEO of VASTox commented: "The zebrafish is emerging as avaluable and powerful tool within drug discovery and VASTox is the world'sleader in the use of this organism. The signing of these pilot deals meansVASTox has now worked with seven of the ten largest pharmaceutical companies,which provides continued recognition of our technology and an opportunity tofurther validate this exciting technology platform." He added: "The completion of the GMP laboratory is a key milestone for ourpharmaceutical service offering. Carbohydrate chemistry is becomingincreasingly important in the search for and development of effective new drugsand our Dextra subsidiary is already established as a leading force in thisfield. With GMP accreditation, VASTox can now offer its partners and customersthe highest quality carbohydrate chemistry services from discovery through toclinical development." - ends - For more information please contact: VASTox Steven Lee, PhD, Chief Executive Officer Tel: +44 (0)1235 443951 Darren Millington, ACMA, Chief Financial Officer Citigate Dewe Rogerson Mark Swallow / David Dible / Valerie Auffray Tel: +44 (0)207 638 9571 Evolution Securities Tim Worlledge / Bobbie Hilliam / Neil Elliot Tel: +44 (0)207 071 4300 About VASTox plc VASTox is a leading UK biotechnology company that discovers and developsproprietary new drugs. The Company's internal drug development programmes areunderpinned by its advanced chemistry and drug screening (chemical genomics)technology platforms, which it also provides on a collaborative orfee-for-service basis to the pharmaceutical industry. VASTox has a broad range of drug discovery programmes in the clinical,pre-clinical and discovery stages of development, which target serious diseaseswith a high unmet medical need. These therapeutic areas include neuro-disorders(neurodegenerative and neuromuscular), anti-infectives, ophthalmic diseases,oncology and regenerative medicines. VASTox's in-house drug development capabilities combine world-class expertise inboth medicinal and carbohydrate chemistry with high-volume, high-contentscreening using its proprietary zebrafish and fruitfly technologies (chemicalgenomics). These whole organism screens have the potential to dramaticallydecrease the time and cost of drug discovery and development by delivering datathat are highly predictive of the efficacy and toxicity of potential drugcompounds in humans. The company listed on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange in October2004 - symbol: VOX Further information about the company is available at www.vastox.com This document contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of theU.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-lookingstatements can be identified by words such as "anticipates", "intends", "plans","seeks", "believes", "estimates", "expects" and similar references to futureperiods, or by the inclusion of forecasts or projections. Forward-looking statements are based on the Company's current expectations andassumptions regarding our business, the economy and other future conditions.Because forward-looking statements relate to the future, by their nature, theyare subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances thatare difficult to predict. The Company's actual results may differ materiallyfrom those contemplated by the forward-looking statements. The Company cautionsyou therefore that you should not rely on any of these forward-lookingstatements as statements of historical fact or as guarantees or assurances offuture performance. Important factors that could cause actual results to differmaterially from those in the forward-looking statements and regional, national,global political, economic, business, competitive, market and regulatoryconditions. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange