Recent press releases

15 December 2008

Lectus Therapeutics announces development milestone

Lectus advances a next-generation Cav2.2 ion channel modulator into development for neuropathic pain

Cambridge, UK 15 December 2008, Lectus Therapeutics Ltd, the drug discovery and development company focusing on next-generation ion channel modulators, announced today that it had achieved a major milestone by advancing a novel orally active modulator of N-type (Cav2.2) ion channels from research into development. This success follows Lectus’s Series A financing round completed in 2006 and led by Sofinnova Partners (Paris, France). As well as validating the Company’s proprietary technology platform, the round has enabled the Company to establish its discovery and development pipeline.

In addition to identifying modulators of Cav2.2 ion channels, one of the industry’s hottest therapeutic targets for the treatment of pain and related indications, Lectus has proven its approach on a number of other ion channel targets. Given the lack of recent industry success in the ion channels field, Lectus’s approach to selectively target ion channel accessory proteins could represent a potential breakthrough in this challenging area. Such next-generation ion channel modulators, identified using Lectus’s proprietary technology LEPTICS®, are anticipated to demonstrate considerable advantages over current and pipeline compounds.

Dr Roland Kozlowski, CEO of Lectus, commented: “Lectus is delighted to move one of its key assets into development. This represents a significant value inflection point for the business and emphasises the value of its discovery approach. Lectus is now ideally placed to explore a range of transactions for further maturation of its asset base.”

The Chairman of Lectus’s Scientific Advisory Board, Chas Bountra (Chief Scientific Officer at the Structural Genomics Consortium in Oxford and formerly Vice President and Head of Biology at GlaxoSmithKline) added “Cav2.2 is a clinically precedented target. Lectus’s candidate compound represents an asset with a novel molecular profile which should translate to utility in a wide range of pain states. Lectus should fast track this asset into clinical efficacy studies - in the hope of quickly converting it into a drug to benefit patients.”

Lectus’s management will be attending the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco, 12-14 January 2010.

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