Summit Corporation Receives Regulatory Approval to Enter SMT C1100 into a Phase I Clinical Trial
The approval of the CTA achieves a milestone as part of the $1.5 million agreement signed between Summit and a group of US-based DMD organisations in December 2011 and triggers a payment of $437,500. The Phase I trial is funded by the Muscular Dystrophy Association, Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy, Charley’s Fund, Cure Duchenne, the Foundation to Eradicate Duchenne and the Nash Avery Foundation.
The double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase I study will be conducted in 48 healthy male volunteers and will evaluate a new aqueous oral formulation of SMT C1100. The study will examine both the safety and tolerability of the new formulation, and whether it can provide consistent levels of SMT C1100 in the blood that non-clinical efficacy studies predict would be required to have a therapeutic benefit in DMD patients. The formulation has been developed so it will be appropriate for use by all patients.
Results from the trial are expected by the end of 2012 and a successful outcome from the Phase I trial is expected to lead to evaluation of SMT C1100 in DMD patients. A drug like SMT C1100 that could treat all DMD patients has the potential to generate annual sales in excess of $1 billion.
"We're extremely pleased that SMT C1100 will now move from testing in vivo to testing in healthy humans" said Jane Larkindale, MDA's Director of Translational Research. "We have good evidence from laboratory studies that this drug's mechanism of action is valid for slowing the progression of this degenerative muscle disease, and we hope that this new trial will show that it can be effectively and safely delivered to humans."
Glyn Edwards, Chief Executive Officer of Summit added: “Our plans to commence a new Phase I trial for SMT C1100 continue to progress well with the necessary regulatory approval now in place. This study represents an important development milestone for this programme with a positive outcome having the potential to add considerable value to this asset, and bring an urgently needed treatment for this fatal disease a step closer.”
For more information, please contact:
Summit
Glyn Edwards / Richard Pye
Tel: +44 (0)1235 443 951
Singer Capital Markets
(Nominated Adviser and Joint broker)
Shaun Dobson / Claes Spång
Tel: +44 (0)203 205 7500
Hybridan LLP
(Joint broker)
Claire Louise Noyce / Deepak Reddy
Tel: +44 (0)207 947 4350
Peckwater PR
(Financial public relations)
Tarquin Edwards
Tel: +44 (0)7879 458 364
tarquin.edwards@peckwaterpr.co.uk
About DMD
Duchenne muscular dystrophy is a fatal genetic neuromuscular disorder that affects 1 in 3,500 boys with an estimated patient population of 50,000 in the developed world. The disease is caused by the lack of a gene required to make dystrophin, a protein, which maintains the integrity and healthy function of muscles. One in three new cases are due to a spontaneous mutation where there is no familial history of the disease. The progressive muscle wasting begins in early childhood and typically leads to death in the twenties due to cardiac and respiratory failure. Currently there is no cure for the disease.
About Utrophin Upregulation
Utrophin is a naturally occurring protein that has a similar function to dystrophin. Utrophin is produced during foetal development but is switched off in adults. If its production could be switched back on, utrophin could act as a substitute for the missing dystrophin to maintain the healthy function of muscles. One method of turning utrophin production back on is through pharmacological means. Utrophin upregulation will be beneficial to all DMD patients regardless of their specific genetic mutation and is also expected to be complimentary to other therapeutic approaches in development.
About SMT C1100
Discovered and developed by scientists at Summit, SMT C1100 has demonstrated its potential as a disease-modifying drug in non-clinical efficacy studies. SMT C1100 disengages normal utrophin control such that utrophin RNA and protein is made continually in muscle. It has received orphan drug designation in the US and Europe.
About MDA Venture Philanthropy (MVP)
MVP is the Muscular Dystrophy Association's drug development program, which operates within MDA's translational research program. MVP is exclusively focused on funding the discovery and clinical application of treatments and cures for neuromuscular diseases. For more information, visit mda.org and follow MDA on Facebook (facebook.com/MDANational) and Twitter (@MDAnews).
About Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy
Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy (PPMD) is a national not-for-profit organization founded in 1994 by parents of children with Duchenne and Becker muscular dystrophy. Our mission is to end Duchenne. We accelerate research, raise our voices in Washington, demand optimal care for all young men, and educate the global community. PPMD is headquartered in Middletown, Ohio with offices in Fort Lee, New Jersey. For more information, visit www.ParentProjectMD.org.
About Charley's Fund, Cure Duchenne, Foundation to Eradicate Duchenne, and Nash Avery Foundation
Charley's Fund (www.charleysfund.org), Cure Duchenne (www.cureduchenne.org), Foundation to Eradicate Duchenne (www.duchennemd.org), and Nash Avery Foundation (www.nashaveryfoundation.org) are independent organisations devoted to developing treatments for Duchenne muscular dystrophy. These groups, founded by parents of children with Duchenne, support the most promising research.
About Summit
Summit is an Oxford, UK based drug discovery Company with an innovative Seglin™ technology platform for the discovery of new medicines and a portfolio of drug programme assets. Summit’s programme portfolio consists of a number of drug programmes targeting high-value areas of unmet medical need including Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy and C. difficile infection. Summit is listed on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange and trades under the ticker symbol SUMM. Further information is available at www.summitplc.com.
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