Phytopharm PLC: Collaboration and Licence Agreement with The Beijing Institute for Novel Memory and Concentration Product
GODMANCHESTER, Cambridgeshire, U.K. (26 June 2007) – Phytopharm plc (LSE: PYM) (“Phytopharm” or the “Company”) announces today a Collaboration and Licence Agreement with The Beijing Institute, Academy of Military Medical Sciences (“The Beijing Institute”) for the development of novel functional foods and pharmaceuticals, including a product for memory and concentration.
Under the terms of the Collaboration and Licence Agreement, Phytopharm and The Beijing Institute will collaborate to progress The Beijing Institute’s lead product for memory and concentration selected from its library of patented compounds derived from Traditional Chinese Medicine. The Collaboration and Licence Agreement also extends to certain other patented compounds that may have utility in other disease areas including vascular disorders and stroke. Phytopharm has been granted an exclusive licence from The Beijing Institute to develop and commercialize these products globally in return for royalty and milestone payments to The Beijing Institute upon the achievement of certain pre-defined goals. Financial terms of the agreement are not disclosed. Traditional Chinese Medicines have been used for thousands of years and over that time a wealth of knowledge and expertise in the medicinal use of plants has built up. The Beijing Institute scientists have extensive knowledge of Traditional Chinese Medicines and their research over the last 10 years has led to the identification of a lead product that has the potential to improve memory and concentration. Phytopharm will develop this lead product through further pre-clinical testing and progress into clinical trials. Commenting on today’s announcement, Dr Xiaoming Yang, Head of The Beijing Institute, said: “We are delighted to be working with Phytopharm and proud that The Beijing Institute’s extensive expertise and experience in Traditional Chinese Medicine has been recognized by Phytopharm and we look forward to a long and fruitful collaboration.” Commenting on today’s announcement, Dr Daryl Rees, Chief Executive Officer of Phytopharm, said: “We are excited about the Collaboration and Licence Agreement with The Beijing Institute as it fulfils one of our strategic objectives of expanding our product portfolio with a novel functional food candidate for memory and concentration, an area in which we have established expertise. The Beijing Institute’s scientists bring significant knowledge on Traditional Chinese Medicine and we look forward to working with them to advance the lead product through clinical development.” Phytopharm plc Phytopharm is a pharmaceutical development and functional food company whose product leads are generated from medicinal plants. The Company's strategy is to develop these products through ‘proof of principle’ clinical testing, and then secure partners for late stage development, sales and marketing. Laboratory, manufacturing and clinical work is outsourced to selected specialists, operating under expert in-house management. This operational structure allows access to the best external research facilities whilst maintaining low fixed overheads and a lower development cost structure. Beijing Institute The Beijing Institute (Institute of Radiation Medicine, the Academy of Military Medical Sciences, Beijing) has over the past 50 years developed its research strengths from radiobiology into a wide range of scientific fields, including biotechnology, biochemistry, molecular biology, pharmaceutical chemistry, pharmacology, toxicology, experimental pathology, experimental haematology, genomics and proteomics. These groups were set up to provide the quality control for Traditional Chinese Medicine products and the identification and development of extracted active compounds. The Institutes considerable expertise and experience in the extraction of active compounds from Traditional Chinese Medicine has resulted in several pharmaceutical products being successfully developed for the Chinese market.