Directorate Change

RNS Number : 7163H

ValiRx PLC

02 June 2011

 



For release

07:00

2 June 2011

ValiRx Plc (AIM: VAL)

("ValiRx" or "the Company")

Directorate Change

ValiRx Plc (AIM: VAL), the life science company with a focus on cancer diagnostics and therapeutics for personalised medicine, is pleased to announce the appointment of Oliver de Giorgio-Miller, as an independent Non-Executive Director of the Company.

Oliver, aged 60, has extensive knowledge of international business development and optimising shareholder value by increasing earnings through organic growth, acquisition of complementary technologies or businesses and licensing proprietary intellectual property to third parties.

He began his career with multinational pharmaceutical companies, namely Schering AG (now Bayer Schering Pharma) and Hoffmann-La Roche, and progressed to senior management in both companies.

He moved to Intavent OrthofixLtd, a global medical devices company, where he was responsible for the acquisition and out-licensing of technologies before joining Photo Therapeutics Ltd as CEO, a joint venture company between the University of Manchester and Cancer Research UK, which was sold to the Nasdaq-listed, PhotoMedex.

In 2003, he moved to the City and joined WH Ireland Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of WH Ireland Group PLC, as a consultant life-sciences analyst specialising in covering small to mid-cap biopharmaceutical companies operating in the UK, USA and Asia-Pacific markets. He has experienced and undertaken a wide range of corporate finance transactions including due diligence on companies and their intellectual property, fundraising via private placings, IPOs, secondary issues and M&As.

Most recently, he has become Director and Investment Manager of the off-shore fund, Sarum Investment (SICAV) plc, exclusively focused on investing in companies developing novel cancer therapeutics, diagnostics and prophylactics that have passed the proof of concept threshold.

Dr. Satu Vainikka, Chief Executive, commented:

"We are delighted that Oliver has agreed to join ValiRx and I very much look forward to working more closely with him and to benefitting from his scientific background, his knowledge of the City and his wise counsel.  He has provided research on the Company since its reverse onto the AIM market in 2006 and he has seen the Company and its scientific offering transform itself to where we are today.  We again warmly welcome Oliver to the Board."

The following information is provided pursuant to paragraph (g) Schedule Two of the AIM Rules:

Oliver de Giorgio-Miller

Current Directorships/Partnerships:	Previous Directorships/ Partnerships within the last five years:
Sarum Capital LLP Sarum Investment (SICAV) plc	None

There is no further information that is required to be disclosed pursuant to paragraph (g) Schedule Two of the AIM Rules in relation to Mr de Giorgio-Miller.

 - ends -

For more information, please contact:

ValiRx plc	www.valirx.com
Dr. Satu Vainikka	Tel: [phone]
Cairn Financial Advisers LLP - Nominated Adviser	www.cairnfin.com
Liam Murray / Avi Robinson	Tel: [phone]
Hybridan LLP - Broker
Claire Noyce	Tel: [phone]
Peckwater PR
Tarquin Edwards	Tel: [phone]
	[e-mail]

Notes for Editors

ValiRx Plc

ValiRx Plc is a biopharmaceutical company developing novel technologies and products in oncology therapeutics and diagnostics. The product focus is in the epigenomic analysis and treatment of cancer, but the technologies can be applied to other fields as well, such as neurology and inflammatory diseases.

The Company listed on AIM in October 2006 and is creating a portfolio of innovative products through investment in specific development projects. It actively manages projects within this portfolio as a trading company and is not an investment vehicle. The ValiRx business model spreads the risks of life science technology developments by minimising financial exposure and running a set of projects to defined commercial endpoints. This maximises returns to shareholders by adding value at the earlier stages where value increases per investment unit are the greatest.

The Company operates through the following divisional companies:

·      ValiMedix is the sales and distribution division of ValiRx

·      ValiPharma is the therapeutics division with two embedded technologies primarily directed at the treatment of cancers. Of particular note is GeneICE, ValiRx's technology for controlling rebellious genes, which was awarded a Eurostars grant to the value of €1.2 million to fund the development of the GeneICE products through preclinical stages in cancer treatments.  ValiRx is leading a consortium of biotechnology companies that are completing pre-clinical studies based on ValiRx's GeneIce technology platform, prior to entering clinical trials.

Background to GeneICE & Eurostars

In June 2009, ValiRx, as the leading partner of an international consortium of three companies, was awarded a two year grant by Eurostar against substantial competition from across Europe, to develop its GeneICE technology ("GeneICE" or "Gene inactivation by chromatin engineering"), in which "rebellious genes", which cause problems such as cancer and potentially some neurological problems, are shut down or "put on ice".

The Eurostars programme is a EU grant scheme and EUrEKa Network initiative, created with the purpose of providing funding for market-oriented research and development activities by Small and Medium-sized Enterprises within the EU.

ValiRx successfully led the funding application with GenoSyst (Finland) and PentaBase (Denmark) under the 2nd call to the Eurostars joint Programme, for design optimisation, lead selection and pre-clinical testing of GeneICE.  The application was rated second in the UK and Finland and first in Denmark, coming in 4th overall out of over 500 applicants within the EU wide scheme.

The technology is under license from Imperial College, University of London and it has been shown to be effective against several cancer cell lines, including prostate cancer, ovarian cancer, pancreatic cancer and lung cancer.  ValiRx retains all commercial rights for GeneICE from the programme.

The GeneICE development plan has four principal goals:

1.   Identification of specific genomic DNA sequences associated with proven cancer targets

2.   Design and optimisation of the anti-gene system to silence the aberrant genes

3.   Evaluation of desired and potential off-target effects

4.   Pre-clinical development of an optimised lead therapeutic against a selected target

 

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