20 February 2014
ValiRx Plc
("ValiRx" or the "Company")
New European Patent Grant for ValiRx's
Cancer Screening Test Biomarker
ValiRx Plc (AIM: VAL), a life science company with a focus on cancer diagnostics and therapeutics for personalised medicine, is pleased to announce that a cancer screening test gene biomarker called NAV3,which is one of the five patent family assets that ValiRx's subsidiary, ValiFinn Oy acquired in 2012, has recently received patent approval by the European patent office ("EPO").
The granting of this latest patent to the Company means that ValiRx now has biomarker granted patent protection in Europe and Australia, and pending in the US and other territories, alongside granted and pending patents for its therapeutic technologies across Europe, the US, Canada and Australia.
The use of biomarkers with oncology therapeutics is one of the fastest growing areas of cancer research, as not only can the biomarkers identify patients who are more likely to respond to a particular drug therapy, but they can also indicate tumour progression.
The Nav3 gene biomarker can be used in the following ways to:
· detect pre-malignant cells, at the stage where tumour development is only about to start
· form a highly sensitive and specific test for finding cancer cells in tissue or samples
· enable the tracking of only a few malignant cells
· examine various samples and biopsy types
In cancer diagnostics the detection of malignant cells as early as possible is a key challenge, as early detection can often have a significant impact on the future survival of cancer patients. The current diagnostic methods for cancer rely mainly on the microscopic analysis of cells in biopsies. However at the early stage of cancer and before morphological changes have developed, such malignant cell detection is and remains difficult.
ValiRx's proprietary novel NAV3 Cancer Screening Test enables the detection of cancer cells in tissue samples, whether they are primary tumours, metastases or pre-malignant cell, at a stage when tumour development is only about to start.
The test is based on the detection of specific changes in the NAV3 gene and the system of tests can be applied to a range of cancers including: colon cancer, breast cancer, lung cancer, lymphomas, and cancers of neurological origin. The clinical relevance of NAV3 is being further investigated in other solid tumours.
Dr Satu Vainikka, CEO, commented: "The granting of this latest patent by the EPO continues to underpin our global geographic patent coverage and I believe, further vindicates our establishment of ValiFinn and its Finnish biomarkers business, in what is a very exciting and rapidly growing marketplace".
For more information, please contact:
ValiRx plc |
Tel: +44 (0) 20 3008 4416 |
Dr Satu Vainikka |
www.ValiRx.com |
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Cairn Financial Advisers LLP (Nominated Adviser) |
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7148 7900 |
Liam Murray / Avi Robinson |
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Daniel Stewart & Company Plc (Broker) |
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7776 6550 |
David Hart |
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Peckwater PR |
Tel: +44 (0) 7879 458 364 |
Tarquin Edwards |
[email protected] |
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:
1. ValiFinn is the biomarkers and diagnostic development division
2. ValiPharma is the therapeutics division with two embedded technologies primarily directed at
the treatment of cancers.
