Scientific Advisory Board App

RNS Number : 7367K

Sareum Holdings PLC

26 April 2010

 



(AIM: SAR)

26 April 2010

SAREUM HOLDINGS PLC
("Sareum" or the "Company")

Sareum Announces Scientific Advisor Appointment and Research Update

Sareum Holdings plc (Sareum) (AIM: SAR), the specialist cancer drug discovery business, is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr Bob Jackson to its Scientific Advisory Board (SAB).

Dr Jackson was formerly Chief Scientific Officer at the cancer drug discovery company, Cyclacel Limited. Prior to that, he held senior research positions at Celltech, Agouron, DuPont and Warner-Lambert. Dr Jackson has led teams that have developed 26 compounds to clinical trials, including the Aurora Kinase inhibitor CYC116, and gained his PhD in biochemistry from the University of London.

Dr Jackson's appointment comes at an important stage in the development of Sareum's Aurora Kinase programme and his expertise in this area will be key to the future development of the programme. Sareum's Aurora Kinase programme is now focussing on leukaemias such as AML (acute myeloid leukaemia).  AML is a cancer of the blood and bone marrow and is the most common type of acute leukaemia.

The Company is pleased to announce the following advances in its cancer research programmes:

Chk1:

We continue to evaluate Chk1 compounds that are administered orally in our in-vivo cancer models.

Aurora:

New data demonstrates that our Aurora compounds potently inhibit the proliferation of AML cells. Recent experiments also show encouraging growth reductions in an AML in-vivo model.

FLT4:

We have recently demonstrated that our FLT4 compounds are effective in preventing lymph vessel growth in cell models, and this efficacy specifically arises from FLT4 kinase de-activation. Cancer spread (metastasis) often follows once a tumour has developed a lymph system.

Sareum's CEO, Dr Tim Mitchell, commented: "We are delighted to welcome Dr Jackson to our Scientific Advisory Board. His expertise, particularly in the area of Aurora Kinase will greatly assist our progress towards clinical candidates. We have produced encouraging data with our cancer research programme which we look forward to presenting to potential pharmaceutical company customers at forthcoming partnering meetings."

Enquiries:

Sareum Holdings plc
Tim Mitchell	01223 497 700
Merchant John East Securities Limited (Nomad)
Simon Clements/Bidhi Bhoma	020 7628 2200
Hybridan LLP (Broker)
Claire Noyce/Stephen Austin	020 7947 4350

Notes for editors:

About Sareum Holdings plc

Sareum is a drug discovery company, headquartered in Cambridge UK, that is focused on producing targeted small molecule therapeutics to address unmet medical needs, primarily in cancer.

Sareum aims to successfully deliver drug candidates for licensing to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies at the pre-clinical or early clinical trials stage.

Sareum Holdings plc joined the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange in October 2004, trading under the symbol SAR.  For further information, please visit www.sareum.co.uk

 

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