Collaboration and Research Studentship Agreement

RNS Number : 2494V

ValiRx PLC

06 August 2015

 

ValiRx Plc

("ValiRx" or "the Company")

Collaboration and Research Studentship Agreement signed with University of Leeds

London (August XX, 2015) - ValiRx Plc (AIM: VAL), the life science company focusing on cancer diagnostics and therapeutics for personalised medicine, is pleased to announce the agreement and signing of a new collaborative research project with Professor Paul Taylor, Director of Student Education and Professor of Chemical Education at the School of Chemistry, University of Leeds.

Professor Taylor has recently moved to Leeds from the University of Warwick, where he achieved recognition as the co-inventor of ValiSeek's VAL401 programme.

The collaboration will give ValiRx access to Professor Taylor's new research results, once he starts work on the project: 'A translated retrotransposon as a biomarker and a therapeutic agent', which will seek to develop and establish a new gene-based technology and technique for developing biomarkers and targeted therapeutic agents.

ValiRx will own and be responsible for protecting the IP arising out of the collaboration whilst exploitation shall be subject to all arising benefits being shared equally between ValiRx and the University of Leeds.

The research project will see a PhD student develop the project for three and a half years under the guidance of Professor Taylor and Dr Suzanne Dilly, with Dr Dilly acting as industrial supervisor for ValiRx to co-ordinate the programme between the Company and the academic collaborators.

Dr Suzanne Dilly, CEO of ValiSeek Limited (part of the ValiRx plc Group), commented: "It is excellent to be working with Paul again and I am very pleased that he would like ValiRx to join with him and collaborate, right at the start of this new and potentially groundbreaking research project".

Professor Paul Taylor, University of Leeds, commented: "I am delighted to be working with Suzanne again and the team at ValiRx and to be generating new science, safe in the knowledge that our industrial partner is well placed to take that science forward into worthwhile clinical usage".

Dr Satu Vainikka, CEO of ValiRx plc, added: "This potential new science has an excellent fit with our current portfolio and I and the team at ValiRx are thrilled to be collaborating with such high calibre partners". 

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
Northland Capital Partners Limited (Broker)	Tel: [phone]
Patrick Claridge / David Hignell (Corporate Finance) John Howes / Abigail Wayne (Broking)
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 has undertaken to develop a novel and groundbreaking class of therapeutics across a number of fields in oncology and has taken its lead compound, Val201, into Phase I/II clinical trials. The Company listed on the Alternative Investment Market ("AIM") of the London Stock Exchange in October 2006.

The Company has a pipeline of other therapeutic drugs, which are currently progressing towards clinical trials. The product focus is in the targeted analysis and treatment of cancer, but the technologies can be applied to other fields as well, such as neurology and inflammatory diseases.

It actively manages projects within its portfolio as a trading company. The ValiRx business model spreads the risks of life science technology development 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:

1. ValiPharma is the therapeutics division, with two embedded technologies primarily directed at the treatment of cancers.

2. ValiFinn is the biomarkers and diagnostic development division. ValiRx acquired through its ValiFinn subsidiary, the complimentary TRAC technology later in the year to strengthen the portfolio.

3. ValiSeek is a joint venture between ValiRx and Tangent Ltd to develop Val401 in lung cancer and potentially other indications.

University of Leeds

The University of Leeds is one of the largest higher education institutions in the UK, with more than 31,000 students from 147 different countries, and a member of the Russell Group research-intensive universities.

We are a top 10 university for research and impact power in the UK, according to the 2014 Research Excellence Framework, and positioned as one of the top 100 best universities in the world in the 2014 QS World University Rankings. www.leeds.ac.uk

 

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