SUMMIT AND CHILDREN'S NATIONAL MEDICAL CENTER ENTER UTROPHIN BIOMARKER
COLLABORATION FOR DUCHENNE MUSCULAR DYSTROPHY
* Collaboration Supported by Grant from Foundation to Eradicate Duchenne
Oxford, UK, 6 February 2013 - Summit (AIM: SUMM), a drug discovery and
development company advancing therapies for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy ('DMD')
and C. difficile infections, announces that it has entered into a collaboration
with Dr Yetrib Hathout from Children's National Medical Center in Washington DC,
for the development of utrophin biomarkers for DMD. The collaboration is being
financially supported by a grant from the Foundation to Eradicate Duchenne and
is part of a comprehensive biomarker programme being undertaken by Summit to
advance its utrophin modulator programme for DMD. In late 2012, Summit reported
that in a Phase 1 trial in healthy volunteers, its lead candidate SMT C1100 was
safe and well-tolerated.
"We are delighted to be working with Dr Hathout on developing new biomarkers
that will help advance our understanding of DMD while supporting the progress of
Summit's utrophin modulator programme," commented Glyn Edwards, Chief Executive
Officer of Summit. "Developing biomarker indicators capable of accurately
measuring utrophin protein levels in muscle will be vital in helping to confirm
the activity of our clinical candidate SMT C1100 in future patient trials. We
thank the Foundation to Eradicate Duchenne for their continuing support in
advancing this important medical research."
Joel Wood, President of the Foundation to Eradicate Duchenne added, "We are
committed to ensuring that urgently needed treatments have the best possible
chance of successfully progressing through clinical trials. As such, we are
pleased to provide funding to support Summit's utrophin modulation programme,
which is a novel and promising approach for treating all genetic forms of DMD."
DMD is caused by genetic mutations that prevent patients from making the
structural protein dystrophin, which leads to progressive muscle wasting and is
ultimately fatal. Summit is pioneering utrophin modulation to stimulate
production of utrophin, a functionally similar protein to dystrophin that is
expressed in foetal and regenerating muscle, and which has the potential to
restore and maintain healthy muscle function. This disease modifying approach
would benefit all DMD patients, regardless of the underlying genetic fault
causing their illness. SMT C1100 is the Company's leading utrophin modulator
drug and successfully completed a Phase 1 clinical trial in late 2012.
The development of new biomarkers that accurately quantify utrophin protein
levels in DMD muscles will play an important role in providing evidence for the
potential effectiveness of Summit's utrophin modulator drugs in future patient
clinical trials. Dr Hathout, a Principal Investigator at the Center for Genetic
Medicine Research at Children's National, will apply his expertise in cutting-
edge proteomic techniques to develop a sensitive, robust mass-spectrometry based
assay that can quantitatively measure utrophin protein levels in biopsies of DMD
muscle. This collaboration is part of Summit's comprehensive biomarker
programme developing a range of assays that will measure biological endpoints to
demonstrate muscle benefit after treatment with small molecule utrophin
modulators.
- END -
Notes to Editors
About Children's National Medical Center
Children's National Medical Center, located in Washington, DC, is a proven
leader in the development of innovative new treatments for childhood illness and
injury. Children's has been serving the nation's children for more than 135
years. Children's National is proudly ranked among the best pediatric hospitals
in America by US News & World Report and the Leapfrog Group. For more
information, visit www.childrensnational.org. Children's Research Institute, the
academic arm of Children's National Medical Center, encompasses the
translational, clinical, and community research efforts of the institution.
Learn more about our research programs at www.childrensnational.org/research.
About Foundation to Eradicate Duchenne
The Foundation to Eradicate Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy ('FED') is a non-profit
organisation founded in 2002 to provide funding into research for treatments and
ultimately a cure for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy ('DMD'). THE FED raises money
to support the world's only clinical trials network for DMD. The clinical
trials network is known as CINRG and works with scientists all over the world on
therapies for DMD.
About Summit
Summit is an Oxford, UK based drug discovery and development Company targeting
high-value areas of unmet medical need including Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy and
C. difficile infection. Summit is listed on the AIM market of the London Stock
Exchange and trades under the ticker symbol SUMM. Further information is
available at www.summitplc.com.
For more information, please contact:
Summit
Glyn Edwards / Richard Pye Tel: +44 (0)1235 443 951
Nomura Code Securities
(Nominated Adviser and Joint broker)
Chris Collins / Jonathan Senior / Giles Tel: +44 (0)20 7776 1200
Balleny
Hybridan LLP
(Joint broker)
Claire Louise Noyce / Deepak Reddy Tel: +44 (0)207 947 4350
Peckwater PR
(Financial public relations, UK) Tel: +44 (0)7879 458 364
Tarquin Edwards tarquin.edwards@peckwaterpr.co.uk
MacDougall Biomedical Communications
(US media contact) Tel: +1 781-235-3060
Michelle Avery
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