SUMM.L Regulatory News (SUMM)

24 Jul 2007 07:00

Summit Corporation PLC24 July 2007 Summit Corporation plc ("Summit" or "the Company") $10 MILLION COLLABORATION IN INFECTIOUS DISEASES Evolva and Summit sign three-year co-investment collaboration for SMT14400 Oxford, UK, 24 July 2007 - Summit plc (AIM: SUMM), a leading UK biotechnologycompany formerly known as VASTox plc (AIM: VOX), announces that it has signed athree-year collaborative agreement with Evolva Biotech SA ("Evolva") to developnew drugs for infectious diseases. The collaboration covers Summit's immunomodulator drug candidate SMT14400(formerly VOX 14400) and backup compounds from the Company's proprietary iminosugar library. Evolva and Summit will work together to develop clinical-stagecompounds that show efficacy against viruses and bacteria relating specificallyto bio-defence targets such as Anthrax, Ebola and other infectious diseases suchas HIV and Influenza. In Europe and the US there is currently substantialgovernment support running into excess of $100s million for the research anddevelopment of medicines that target these diseases. Evolva is a leading Swiss-based biotechnology company focussed on developingsmall molecules for infectious diseases, cancer and diabetes. With their uniqueand world-leading capabilities in this area, Evolva has attracted over $55million in funding from the Defense Threat Reduction Agency ("DTRA"), aUS-government body tasked with developing technologies to deal with terrorismand unconventional weaponry. Under the terms of the agreement the parties will make an initial co-investmentof $1 million. In addition to this, Summit and Evolva will make a furtherco-investment in excess of $10 million over the next three years with bothparties working together on a 50:50 basis to develop this new opportunity ininfectious diseases for SMT14400. Summit will continue the development ofSMT14400 in the areas of oncology and allergy. Steven Lee, PhD, CEO of Summit said: "Evolva have a first class operation in thetherapeutic area of infectious diseases, and I am very pleased to be workingtogether in a programme collaboration with SMT14400. We retain the rights forSMT14400 in oncology and allergy, and will look forward to completing additionalprogramme deals with other leading pharmaceutical and biotech partners" Neil Goldsmith, Managing Director and CEO of Evolva added: "We are delighted tohave signed this three-year collaboration with Summit in the area of infectiousdiseases. Summit's world class expertise in a very promising chemical spacecoupled with Evolva's strength in drug development will allow both companies tofast-track SMT14400 to clinical-stage. This co-investment into SMT14400represents an opportunity for both companies to capitalise on each other'sstrength and widen the exploration of novel small molecules to fight infectiousdiseases. We are looking forward to this partnership with Summit, a leadingUK-listed biotechnology company." - ends - For more information please contact: Summit plcSteven Lee, PhD, Chief Executive Officer Tel: +44 (0)1235 443951Darren Millington, ACMA, Chief Financial OfficerRichard Pye, PhD, Investor Relations Citigate Dewe RogersonMark Swallow / David Dible / Valerie Auffray Tel: +44 (0)207 638 9571 Evolution SecuritiesTim Worlledge / Bobbie Hilliam / Neil Elliot Tel: +44 (0)207 071 4300 About Evolva Biotech SA Evolva Biotech SA is a drug discovery and development company headquartered inBasel (Switzerland) with subsidiary in the USA, Denmark and India involved inanti-infectives, cancer and metabolic diseases. Evolva Biotech SA evolves small molecule drugs using massively combinatorialgene libraries that drive chemistry rich pathways. Its Genetic Chemistrytechnology platform replicates, on an industrial basis, the ability of nature toevolve molecules with exquisite "design", but with the evolution directly aimedat making functional drugs - HIV blockers, anti-obesity compounds etc. GeneticChemistry can create, optimize and manufacture molecules that are outside thescope of the traditional synthetic approaches of the industry. For moreinformation see www.evolva.com. For more information please contact: Neil Goldsmith, Managing Director and CEO neilg@evolva.com Tel +41 61 485 2000 About Summit plc Summit plc is a leading UK biotechnology company that discovers and developsproprietary new drugs. The Company's internal drug development programmes areunderpinned by its advanced carbohydrate chemistry and drug screening (chemicalgenomics) technology platforms, which it also provides on a collaborative orfee-for-service basis to the pharmaceutical industry. Summit plc 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. Summit plc's in-house drug development capabilities combine world-classexpertise in both 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: SUMM Further information about the company is available at www.summitplc.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