Strategic Review

Sareum Holdings PLC
02 May 2008


For immediate release                                               2 May 2008



                              Sareum Holdings PLC
                            ("Sareum" or "Company")


                                Strategic Review

Sareum Holdings plc (AIM:SAR), the specialist structure-based drug discovery
business, announces that the Board is undertaking a strategic review to consider
how best to take the business forward.

Sareum, which was formed in August 2003, employs a structure-based approach to
the discovery of new drugs for the treatment of cancer.  In parallel, the
Company provides specialist drug discovery capabilities to partners in the
pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.  The Company has historically been
funded via fee-for-service-contract revenues and funds raised through equity
issues.

The strategic review has been initiated by the Sareum Board for a number of
reasons, inter alia;

•  Difficult trading conditions resulting from a reticence in the research 
   service sector, particularly in the USA, to use cash reserves to sponsor 
   new research activities until financial conditions improve. Combined with 
   a high level of M&A activity within the pharmaceutical and biotechnology 
   sector, this has tended to interfere with the decision making process for 
   the initiation of new research programs.  This was highlighted in Sareum's 
   interim results statement for the six months ended 31 December 2007
   which was released on 6 March 2008.

•  The current depressed share price in common with most "small cap" plcs; and

•  The Board has received approaches from parties interested in the Company's 
   drug discovery business and in-house cancer drug discovery programs.


The Sareum Board will be considering a number of options including; the sale of
all or part of the business, the raising of additional equity funds, entering
into partnering arrangements, or the acquisition of a suitable business to give
the Company additional critical mass.  The Board has appointed Grant Thornton
Corporate Finance as financial advisers to assist with this process.

The Sareum Board intends to complete this evaluation process to ensure that the
future strategy adopted is in the best interests of both shareholders and
employees.  As and when a decision on the optimum future strategy for the
Company is reached, if appropriate, an announcement will be made.

Accordingly, under the rules of the Takeover Code, Sareum is now in an offer
period.  Sareum confirms, pursuant to Rule 2.10 of the City Code on Takeovers
and Mergers, that its issued share capital as at 2 May 2008 comprised
818,097,713 ordinary shares of 0.025 pence each.  The shares are traded on AIM
under International Securities Identification Number GB00B02RFS12.


Dealing Disclosure Requirements

Under the provisions of Rule 8.3 of the Takeover Code ("the Code"), if any
person is, or becomes, "interested" (directly or indirectly) in 1% or more of
any class of "relevant securities" of Sareum, all "dealings" in any "relevant
securities" of that company (including by means of an option in respect of, or a
derivative referenced to, any such "relevant securities") must be publicly
disclosed by no later than 3.30 pm (London time) on the London business day
following the date of the relevant transaction.  This requirement will continue
until the date on which the offer becomes, or is declared, unconditional as to
acceptances, lapses or is otherwise withdrawn or on which the "offer period"
otherwise ends.  If two or more persons act together pursuant to an agreement or
understanding, whether formal or informal, to acquire an "interest" in "relevant
securities" of Sareum, they will be deemed to be a single person for the purpose
of Rule 8.3.

Under the provisions of Rule 8.1 of the Code, all "dealings" in "relevant
securities" of Sareum by any offeror, or by any of its respective "associates",
must be disclosed by no later than 12.00 noon (London time) on the London
business day following the date of the relevant transaction.

A disclosure table, giving details of the companies in whose "relevant
securities" "dealings" should be disclosed, and the number of such securities in
issue, can be found on the Takeover Panel's website at
www.thetakeoverpanel.org.uk.

"Interests in securities" arise, in summary, when a person has long economic
exposure, whether conditional or absolute, to changes in the price of
securities. In particular, a person will be treated as having an "interest" by
virtue of the ownership or control of securities, or by virtue of any option in
respect of, or derivative referenced to, securities.

Terms in quotation marks are defined in the Code, which can also be found on the
Panel's website.  If you are in any doubt as to whether or not you are required
to disclose a "dealing" under Rule 8, you should consult the Panel.


ENDS


For further information:


Sareum Holdings plc                                    01223 497700

Tim Mitchell, Chief Executive Officer



Buchanan Communications                                020 7466 5000


Tim Anderson, Mary-Jane Johnson

Grant Thornton Corporate Finance


Charles E Cattaneo                                     07774 276512
Philip Secrett,                                        020 7383 5100
Colin Aaronson


Sareum Holdings plc is a structure-based drug discovery business headquartered
in Cambridge, UK.  The Company was formed in August 2003 to discover new drugs
for the treatment of cancer.  Sareum's unique approach aims to halve the time it
takes to discover new drug candidates.

A structure-based approach to drug discovery relies on knowledge of the
three-dimensional structure of the proteins that cause disease.  Once the
structure is known, potential drugs are designed to 'lock-in' to the protein
with the aim of reversing or arresting a disease's progression.  Knowledge of
the structure of the potential drugs and how they 'lock-in' to their target
protein assists greatly in the development of high-quality drug candidates.
Determining structure is a complex task and requires leading-edge equipment and
experienced staff.  Sareum's approach to structure determination utilises its
proprietary protein expression platform in order to produce multiple recombinant
proteins that accelerate structure determination using x-ray crystallography.

Once the structure is determined, the Company's innovative fragment screening
platform is used to identify novel chemical templates designed to interact with
the target protein.  Sareum then uses its high-throughput medicinal chemistry
platform to rapidly optimise these molecules and develop the most promising into
potential drug candidates.

Sareum aims to successfully deliver drug candidates for licensing to larger
pharmaceutical companies at the pre-clinical or early clinical trials stage.
This is funded by provision of its specialist drug discovery capabilities to
partners in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.

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



                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange