SUMM.L Regulatory News (SUMM)

2 Oct 2007 07:01

Summit Corporation PLC02 October 2007 Summit Corporation plc ("Summit" or "the Company") SUMMIT RECEIVES £220,000 FROM UK MUSCULAR DYSTROPHY CHARITY Funding from Parent Project UK to support preclinical and zebrafish researchprogrammes Oxford, UK, 2 October 2007 - Summit Corporation plc (AIM: SUMM) announces thatit has received £220,000 from the UK muscular dystrophy charity Parent ProjectUK ("PPUK"). The funding will support both Summit's preclinical Duchennemuscular dystrophy ("DMD") programme and an innovative early-stage researchproject called the ZF Partnership that is seeking to identify additional DMDtherapies using zebrafish disease models. Summit has a well-established DMD drug programme with a lead candidate, SMTC1100, in preclinical development and on schedule to enter clinical trials in H22008. As well as supporting continuing preclinical work for this programme, thefunding from PPUK will also support Summit's earlier stage research that isassessing libraries of small drug-like molecules through unique zebrafish DMDscreening models. The objective is to identify additional complementary DMDtherapies and develop these into clinical candidates for future trials. The funding has been raised by PPUK from private sources including Charley'sFund in the USA and The Gavriel Meir Trust in the UK. PPUK will seek to raiseadditional donations to further support Summit's DMD programme in the future. Nick Catlin, CEO of Parent Project UK, commented, "DMD is a devastatingmuscle-wasting condition. Young people are left totally paralysed by their earlyteens and are dying from respiratory or heart failure in their early twenties.There is no cure. Summit's commitment to finding a treatment for this diseasehas been inspiring and its first drug candidate - SMT C1100 - offers ourfamilies real hope for a drug treatment in the near future. We are alreadycommitted to using our DMD Registry to help recruit patients and accelerate theclinical trial phase for this drug. Summit has now offered us the excitingopportunity to work with them and expand its Duchenne programme to look for newand complementary drugs." Steven Lee, CEO of Summit plc, commented, "Summit is focused on identifying anddeveloping new drug candidates to treat serious diseases with high unmet medicalneeds; the Company's commitment to developing medicines for DMD is a key part ofthis strategy. Summit is working closely with the patient groups and charitiesto build upon the already significant progress made towards developing medicinesto treat this fatal childhood disease and is extremely grateful for the supportreceived from PPUK through this donation." - 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 Rogerson Mark Swallow / David Dible / Yvonne Alexander Tel: +44 (0)207 638 9571 Evolution Securities Tim Worlledge / Bobbie Hilliam / Neil Elliot Tel: +44 (0)207 071 4300 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 About Parent Project UK Parent Project UK Muscular Dystrophy (PPUK) is the only UK charity thatexclusively funds research and campaigns for a better medical care for patientswith Duchenne and Becker muscular dystrophies. PPUK was set up by parents ofboys with DMD in 2001 and has since been instrumental in setting up a consortiumof researchers to develop the first clinical trial for a gene therapy in the UK. The MDEX consortium has already won £1.6m of funding from the Department ofHealth following lobbying by parents and supporters of PPUK. PPUK has networksof Parent Action Groups across the UK and has recently set up a DMD Registry,www.dmdregistry.org, that will be the first national database of all thoseliving with DMD in the UK. PPUK will make this data available to helpaccelerate future research and clinical trials. www.ppuk.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