Extension of Collaboration

31 Mar 2008 07:00

Sareum Holdings PLC31 March 2008 For immediate release 31 March 2008 SAREUM HOLDINGS PLC ("Sareum" or the "Company") Extension of Collaboration with Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research & Development, Division of Janssen Pharmaceutica N.V. Sareum Holdings plc (AIM: SAR), the specialist structure-based drug discoverybusiness, is pleased to announce that Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research& Development, Division of Janssen Pharmaceutica N.V., (J&JPRD) has chosen toextend its collaborative agreement with Sareum for another six months, with anoption for further extension. Under the terms of the agreement, Sareum will apply its skills in highthroughput protein structure determination to provide insight and expertise indeveloping new and improved therapeutics to help patients suffering fromdiseases of the central nervous system. In return, Sareum will receive researchfees and success-dependent milestone payments. Financial terms of the agreementwere not disclosed. Commenting on the agreement, Sareum's Chief Executive Officer, Dr Tim Mitchell,said: "We are very pleased to have supported J&JPRD's programs over the last 12months, and look forward to continuing this important relationship. Thesuccessful delivery on relationships with leading companies is a key componentof our business strategy. " For further information: Sareum Holdings 01223 497700Tim Mitchell, Chief Executive Officer Buchanan Communications 020 7466 5000Mary-Jane Johnson, Tim Anderson Grant Thornton Corporate Finance 020 7383 5100Philip Secrett, Colin Aaronson Notes for editors: About Sareum Holdings plc Sareum Holdings plc is a structure-based drug discovery business headquarteredin Cambridge, UK. The Company was formed in August 2003 to discover new drugsfor the treatment of cancer. 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 ofthe structure of the potential drugs and how they 'lock-in' to their targetprotein assists greatly in the development of high-quality drug candidates.Determining structure is a complex task and requires leading-edge equipment andexperienced staff. Sareum's approach to structure determination utilises itsproprietary protein expression platform in order to produce multiple recombinantproteins that accelerate structure determination using x-ray crystallography. Once the structure is determined, the Company's innovative fragment screeningplatform is used to identify novel chemical templates designed to interact withthe target protein. Sareum then uses its high-throughput medicinal chemistryplatform to rapidly optimise these molecules and develop the most promising intopotential drug candidates. Sareum aims to successfully deliver drug candidates for licensing to largerpharmaceutical companies at the pre-clinical or early clinical trials stage.This is funded by provision of its specialist drug discovery capabilities topartners in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. 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 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange