Six-month collaboration project will assess safety of proprietary compounds
Oxford, UK, 30 October 2007 – Summit Corporation plc (AIM: SUMM) today announces the signing of a $450,000 deal with one of the world’s top five pharmaceutical companies that will see it using Summit’s market-leading zebrafish technology platform as part of its drug discovery and development process. The undisclosed company will use Summit’s zebrafish platform to asses a significant number of its proprietary compounds for safety and toxicity effects in a range of organs that are conserved between the zebrafish and humans including the heart, liver, brain and gut. This extended pilot deal follows the conclusion of an earlier successful validation study conducted between the two companies.
Summit is the world leader in using zebrafish in drug discovery and its innovative technology platform provides invaluable in vivo data of the effects of drug candidates in relevant whole organisms at the earliest stages of drug discovery and development. The in vivo data has the potential to improve the success rate within drug discovery as it allows scientists to make rational decisions about what compounds to advance through the discovery and development process. Steven Lee, PhD, CEO of Summit plc, commented “The signing of this pilot deal with one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical company is a major accomplishment for Summit and demonstrates how we are translating initial validation studies into longer-term and higher-value deals. The deal is also indicative of the greater recognition within the wider pharmaceutical industry of the potential of zebrafish technologies to accelerate the drug discovery and development process, and Summit is confident of signing additional deals in the near future.”
For more information, please contact: Summit plc Steven Lee, PhD, Chief Executive Officer Darren Millington, ACMA, Chief Financial Officer Richard Pye, PhD, Investor Relations Tel: +44 (0)1235 443951
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 develops proprietary new drugs. The Company’s internal drug development programmes are underpinned by its advanced carbohydrate chemistry and drug screening (chemical genomics) technology platforms, which it also provides on a collaborative or fee-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 diseases with 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-class expertise in both carbohydrate chemistry with high-volume, high-content screening using its proprietary zebrafish and fruitfly technologies (chemical genomics). These whole organism screens have the potential to dramatically decrease the time and cost of drug discovery and development by delivering data that are highly predictive of the efficacy and toxicity of potential drug compounds in humans. The company listed on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange in October 2004 – symbol: SUMM
