VASTox supports DMD charity

1 Aug 2006 09:00

VASTox plc01 August 2006 VASTox plc ("VASTox" or "the Company") VASTox PROVIDES GRANT TO SUPPORT DUCHENNE MUSCULAR DYSTROPHY PATIENT REGISTRY Oxford, UK, 1 August 2006 - VASTox plc (AIM: VOX), a leading UK biotechnologycompany, announces today it has provided a grant to the UK muscular dystrophycharity, Parent Project UK (PPUK), to support the development and management ofits Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) patient registry (www.dmdregistry.org). The DMD Registry aims to register every person in the UK with DMD and Beckermuscular dystrophy, including detailed clinical and genetic data, in a secure,legally protected database that has been endorsed by senior clinicians, healthprofessionals and researchers. It will be used by these groups to helpaccelerate the development and delivery of new treatments for Duchenne andBecker muscular dystrophies by providing an easier route to clinical trials inthe UK. Ultimately, this registry will be used by VASTox, and other organisationsengaged in the development of therapies for muscular dystrophies, to supportPhase II and Phase III clinical trials in the UK. The grant will be used by PPUKto recruit a full-time project manager and to help raise awareness of theregistry among clinicians, patients and their families. The resource will also provide information for families of DMD patients,including the latest developments in research for treatments for DMD, which willenable them to make better decisions about their future medical care needs. Steven Lee, CEO of VASTox said: "We are very pleased to provide a grant to thePPUK for this worthy project. For VASTox, the DMD Registry will be crucial inpreparing and recruiting for the clinical trials of our lead DMD drugdevelopment programme. But more widely, this resource will be extremely valuablefor everyone involved in the search for an effective therapy for DMD. We arelooking forward to working more closely with PPUK in the coming months." Nick Catlin, CEO of the PPUK, said "DMD is a devastating muscle-wasting disease.Most families are told that there is no hope for a cure or treatments for DMD;this results in the terrible prospect of waiting for your son to die. VASTox isleading the way in the UK by developing new drugs in the future that might giveour sons a longer and better quality of life. Parents of boys with DMD mustunderstand that we all have a very important part to play in helping toaccelerate this research. By registering with the DMD Registry we will givecompanies like VASTox access to a world-class, streamlined clinical trialssystem. This grant from VASTox is wonderful and will help us to be able reachmore families so that we can provide the essential clinical and gene variationinformation on patients for clinical trials that will help us in our raceagainst time." - ends - For more information please contact: VASTox Steven Lee, PhD, Chief Executive Officer Tel: +44 (0)1235 443910Darren Millington, Chief Financial Officer Parent Project UK (PPUK)Nick Catlin, Chief Executive Officer Tel: +44 (0)208 556 9955 Citigate Dewe Rogerson Tel: +44 (0)207 638 9571David Dible / Mark Swallow / Valerie Auffray About VASTox plc VASTox is a chemical genomics technology company that discovers and developsproprietary novel drugs and provides services to the pharmaceutical industry.The company's most advanced drug development programme is focused on developinga new treatment for Duchenne muscular dystrophy based on the up-regulation ofutrophin. A second drug development programme for spinal muscular atrophy isalso progressing rapidly. VASTox has three additional programmes focused onosteoarthritis, cancer and tuberculosis that are expected to be out-licensedprior to entering the clinic. The company's technology platform, which uses zebrafish and fruitflies, has thepotential to dramatically decrease the time and cost of drug discovery anddevelopment. This is because using whole organisms allows it to carry out highvolume, high content screening that delivers data which is highly predictive ofthe efficacy and toxicity of potential drug compounds in humans. VASTox isgrowing revenues based on marketing its unique technology platform and itschemistry expertise. The company listed on the AIM market of the London StockExchange in October 2004. Further information about the company is available at vastox.com. About Parent Project UK Parent Project UK Muscular Dystrophy (PPUK) is the only national charity thatexclusively funds research and campaigns for better medical care for Duchenneand Becker muscular dystrophy. PPUK was set up by parents of boys with Duchennemuscular dystrophy in 2001 and has since been instrumental in setting up aconsortium of researchers to develop the first clinical trial for a Gene Therapyin the UK. The MDEX consortium has already won £1.6m of funding from theDepartment of Health following the lobbying of parents and supporters from PPUK.PPUK has networks of Parent Action Groups across the UK and has recently set upa DMD Registry, www.dmdregistry.org, that will be the first national database ofall those living with DMD in the UK. PPUK will make this data available to helpto accelerate future research and clinical trials. Further information is available at ppuk.org and dmdregistry.org. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange