11th Dec 2006 07:02
SR Pharma PLC11 December 2006 SR Pharma Congratulates Andrew Fire and Craig Mello on Receiving the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2006 Prize given for their discovery of "RNA interference - gene silencing by double- stranded RNA" London, UK, 11 December 2006 ..... SR Pharma plc (London LSE: SPA), Europe'sleading RNAi therapeutics company, today congratulates Andrew Fire and CraigMello on their receipt of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2006.They were presented with the prize at an award ceremony held at the StockholmConcert Hall in Stockholm, Sweden. The Nobel Prize was awarded to Drs Fire andMello for their ground breaking discovery in 1998 of RNA interference, theability of double stranded RNA to silence disease relevant genes. This excitingdiscovery has already led to significant investment by both pharmaceutical andbiotechnology companies as they seek to bring new RNAi therapeutics to themarket. RNA interference occurs naturally in plants, animals, and humans. It is of greatimportance for the regulation of gene expression, participates in defenseagainst viral infections, and keeps jumping genes under control. RNAinterference is already being widely used in basic science as a method to studythe function of genes and there is growing confidence that with increasingindustrial interest in this novel approach that new therapeutics for a broadrange of indications will eventually be commercialised. RNAi molecules have the potential to become a major new class of therapeuticsbased on their ability to directly and precisely silence selected genes relatedto disease. It is thought that these molecules could cure a broad range ofdiseases including cancer, infectious diseases and inherited diseases as theycan be directed against disease relevant genes which can not be inhibited bycurrently existing drug entities. Another key advantage of RNAi therapeuticmolecules is that they are much more potent than previous technologies used toblock the activity of genes, meaning that that they can be used at much lowerdoses. Finally RNAi therapeutics are expected to have an accelerated drugdiscovery and development process as they both validate the gene target and actas the therapeutic agent itself. This in turn means that they are expected tobenefit from longer periods of patent protection once commercialised. SR Pharma became Europe's leading RNAi therapeutics company when it acquired theGerman company Atugen AG in mid 2005. Since the acquisition SR Pharma has madesignificant progress and has developed a number of novel, chemically modified,proprietary siRNA molecules ("AtuRNAi"), which have advantages over conventionalsiRNA molecules including enhanced stability against nuclease degradation. Inaddition, the company has developed a proprietary delivery system ("AtuPLEX"),which increases bioavailability, circulation times and functional intracellularuptake of RNAi molecules. SR Pharma believes that this liposomal-based deliverysystem will be of increasing importance as it moves its products intoindications, which require systemic delivery. The company expects to beginclinical development of its first AtuRNAi therapeutic molecules for systemiccancer indications in 2007. SR Pharma also has AtuRNAi compounds partnered with Quark Biotech and Pfizer,which are anticipated to enter clinical trials shortly. SR Pharma is a licensee to the umbrella patent 6,506,559 covering the geneticinhibition by double-stranded RNA granted to Fire and Mello in January 2003. Iain Ross, Executive Chairman of SR Pharma, said: "Today is a historic day forthe rapidly emerging field of RNAi therapy. The fact that Drs Fire and Mellohave received their Nobel Prize only after eight years reflects the importanceof their ground breaking scientific discovery. All of the team at SR Pharmawould like to extend our congratulations to Andrew Fire and Craig Mello. SRPharma will continue to focus on developing our unique RNAi molecules, incombination with our proprietary delivery system, and we believe we are wellpositioned to make an important contribution to the new wave of RNAitherapeutics that this exciting approach to gene silencing promises to deliver." Ends - SR Pharma (www.srpharma.com) SR Pharma plc is a European biopharmaceutical company, listed on AIM. TheCompany has two operating subsidiaries Atugen AG (www.atugen.com) based inBerlin, Germany and Stanford Rook Ltd based in London, UK. SR Pharma is a world leader in RNAi therapeutics, which is a Nobel Prize winningtechnology that "silences" genes linked to the onset of disease. The Companyhas developed novel, chemically modified proprietary siRNA molecules("AtuRNAi"), which have a number of advantages over conventional siRNA moleculesincluding enhanced stability against nuclease degradation. In addition, theCompany has developed a proprietary delivery system ("AtuPLEX"), which increasesbioavailability, circulation times and functional intracellular uptake of siRNAmolecules. SR Pharma has lead AtuRNAi compounds partnered with Quark Biotech and Pfizer,which are anticipated to enter clinical trials shortly. SR Pharma also expectsto begin the clinical development of its own AtuRNAi therapeutic molecules forsystemic cancer indications in 2007. In addition, SR Pharma owns a proprietary Mycobacterium vaccae-based technologyand related products. Currently the Company is in discussions with thirdparties regarding the co-development and out-licensing of these products. Forward-Looking Statements This press release includes forward-looking statements that are subject torisks, uncertainties and other factors. These risks and uncertainties couldcause actual results to differ materially from those referred to in theforward-looking statements. All forward--looking statements are based oninformation currently available to SR Pharma and SR Pharma assumes no obligationto update any such forward-looking statements. Enquiries: For further information, please contact the following:SR Pharma plc Citigate Dewe Rogerson+44(0)20 7307 1620 +44(0)20 7638 9571Iain Ross, Chairman David DibleMelvyn Davies, Finance Director Valerie Auffray Yvonne AlexanderAtugen AG+49(0)30 9489 2800Thomas Christely, Chief Executive OfficerDr. Klaus Giese, Chief Scientific Officer This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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