Acquisition of Finnish Non-Trading Company

RNS Number : 5678M

ValiRx PLC

18 August 2011

 

18 August 2011

ValiRx Plc

("ValiRx" or the "Company")

Acquisition of Finnish Non-Trading Company

Establishment of ValiRx Finland (ValiFinn)

ValiRx Plc (AIM: VAL), a life science company with a focus on cancer diagnostics and therapeutics for personalised medicine, is pleased to announce that it has acquired the outstanding equity of a Finnish non-trading company - ValiRx Finland OY ("ValiFinn") that it had jointly established with local partners in 2008 (the "Transaction")

The consideration was a nominal amount, which represents the initial capital introduced into the ValiFinn.

As a result of the acquisition ValiFinn has become a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company.

The Board believes that the Company will benefit from the favourable environment for regulated medical and clinical studies in the Nordic region.

ValiFinn has been awarded a Finnish government grant of up to €55,000 which will be used for ValiRx regulatory and clinical projects and there is potential for continued further support.

This acquisition follows the positive late preclinical study into the development of one of ValiRx's lead therapeutics, VAL201, which was carried out in collaboration with Oxford University.  The study has firmly established a potentially important role for VAL201 in treating hormone induced refractory prostate cancer and other conditions of hormone induced uncontrolled cell growth including breast and ovarian cancer, among others - conditions which currently have high medical needs (announced 28/07/11).

ValiFinn will conduct the management of certain aspects of VAL201 late preclinical work and will assist on the regulatory work pertaining to the clinical trials and will manage certain aspects of the clinical work regarding hormone induced refractory cancer.

After consultation, the Company has been advised that Nordic countries offer a potentially favourable location for its initial hormone regulatory cancer clinical trials.

Dr Satu Vainikka, CEO, commented: "I am delighted that ValiRx is establishing an international presence in the Nordic region and am very grateful for the support we are receiving from the Finnish government.  With the progress we are seeing in the development of VAL201 and in view of the favourable environment for drug development across the Nordic region, I look forward to the accelerated development of VAL201 and to the potential markets and conditions that the drug can address".

- ENDS -

For more information, please contact:

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

 

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