14th Jan 2009 07:00
14 January 2009
HENDERSON MORLEY PLC
(AIM: HML)
("Henderson Morley" or "the Company")
DOG CANCER COLLABORATION
Henderson Morley is pleased to announce the start of a Collaborative Research Programme with a US based centre of excellence for companion animal cancer. The centre is the largest research unit for animal cancers in the US, and the collaboration is to develop treatments for two different forms of dog cancer.
For the first time, the studies will explore the use of PREPS and L-particles as a treatment for cancer. The study will involve dogs that already have cancer, and their existing treatment has either failed or is likely to prove ineffective.
PREPS and L-particles have been engineered to express proteins that are only found in tumours, or are over produced by certain cancers. In affected animals, these proteins are not recognised by the immune system as being foreign, and therefore the tumours are able to grow. PREPS and L-particles present these engineered proteins to the immune system so that an immune response is expected to be generated against them, mobilising the animals' immune system against the tumours.
The market for dog cancer treatments is significant and growing, as dogs are living longer, and pet ownership is increasing. There are 74 million dogs owned in the US, with 4 million new dog cancer diagnoses being made every year. We believe that the numbers in the EU are similar. The first two cancers under investigation are two of the most common forms of dog cancer with a large potential market.
The data generated in these studies will also be extremely useful in support of the on-going licensing efforts for the use of PREPS and L-particles as treatments for human cancer.
Ethics committee approval for the first of these two studies has been granted, and the second is expected to be approved within a few weeks. It is expected to start recruiting patients in March-April with approximately 10 animals involved in each study. The time taken to gain marketing approval for companion animal cancer products is significantly shorter than the human equivalent.
The Company is already in discussions with major animal health companies to seek development agreements or an out-licence of the companion cancer applications of PREPS and L-particles.
Executive Chairman Andrew Knight said "This is an important potential commercial application for the PREPS and L-particles vaccine platform and we are pleased to be working with the Centre of Excellence in this respect. The companion animal market is clearly a growing opportunity for Henderson Morley."
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ENQUIRIES:
HENDERSON MORLEY PLC 0121 442 4600
Andrew Knight, Chairman
BISHOPSGATE COMMUNICATIONS LTD 0207 562 3350
Maxine Barnes Nick Rome
BREWIN DOLPHIN INVESTMENT BANKING 0113 241 0126
Neil Baldwin
HYBRIDAN LLP 0203 159 5085
Claire Noyce/Stephen Austin
Further information on Henderson Morley plc can be accessed through the Company's website at www.henderson-morley.com
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