Director/PDMR Shareholding

RNS Number : 0110Z

ValiRx PLC

14 July 2008

 



ValiRx plc

Directors' shareholdings

14 July 2008, London. ValiRx plc (AIM:VAL, 'ValiRx') the cancer therapeutics and diagnostics company, announces Dr Satu Vainikka and Gerry Desler, both directors of the Company, have today purchased the following ordinary shares of 6p each in the Company ('Ordinary Shares') at 6p per share:

Director	Ordinary Shares purchased	New shareholding	Percentage shareholding
Dr Satu Vainikka	16,667	3,861,507	7.29%
Gerry Desler	83,333	83,333	0.16%

Enquiries: 

ValiRx plc	Tel: [phone]
Dr. Satu Vainikka
WH Ireland Limited - Nominated Adviser	Tel: [phone]
David Youngman / Adrian Kirk
College Hill	Tel: [phone]
Adrian Duffield/Justine Lamond	[e-mail]

Notes to Editors

About ValiRx - www.valirx.com

ValiRx plc (AIM:VAL, 'ValiRx') is a cancer therapeutics and diagnostics company headquartered in London, England and admitted to AIM in October 2006. The Company operates through two subsidiaries, ValiPharma (formerly trading as Cronos Therapeutics) (www.valipharma.com), a UK-based epigenetic drug discovery and development business and ValiBio SA (www.valibio.com), a Belgium-based oncology diagnostics operation.

Therapeutics - ValiPharma 

ValiRx utilises a cells own inherent gene control machinery to silence genes involved in cancer cell progression, effectively 'switching off' genes involved in certain forms of cancer through its platform technology GeneICE™ (Gene Inactivation by Chromatin Engineering),. GeneICE™ works through the recruitment of silencing complexes known as Histone Deacetylase Complexes (HDACs) to target genes involved in cancer. ValiRx's lead product VAL 101 targets the anti-apoptotic gene BCL-2 which is over expressed in many cancers including in pancreatic cancer. The Company has also recently expanded its pre-clinical portfolio to include VAL 201 in prostate cancer.

Gene silencing technology platform potentially represents an innovative and ground breaking new approach to cancer treatment as it allows for the development of targeted, personalised medicine and treatment for patients. GeneICE™ is also applicable to a wide variety of other genetic disorders such as in the fields of neurology and inflammatory diseases. 

Diagnostics - ValiBio

ValiRx currently has two epigenetic diagnosis products - HyperGenomicsTM, a method for the detection and identification of hypersensitive sites in cells and NucleosomicsTM, a non-invasive (blood) test for early cancer diagnosis based on epigenetic signal changes associated with malignancy - which it licences to its subsidiary, ValiBio.

Epigenetics

Epigenetics is the study and manipulation of regulatory factors which regulate and determine gene expression. 

Unlike mutations which occur in DNA, epigenetic changes are reversible. The 'epigenetic' modification of the genome may take many forms, such as addition of external chemical groups for example methylation, acetylation and ubiquitination on to histone proteins associated with DNA. 

Research currently suggests the de-regulation of normal epigenetic control mechanisms is implicated in the development and progression of certain cancers. Hence, compounds which specifically target and reverse these changes are attractive and potentially powerful candidates for future therapeutic approaches to cancer.

Personalised medicine

Personalised medicine refers to tailoring treatment strategies to work differently in different individuals, dependant upon such factors such as their genetic profile, epigenetic profile, environment and the presence of other diseases in the individual.

 

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