TIDMSUMM
RNS Number : 2793A
Summit Therapeutics PLC
27 December 2017
Summit Therapeutics plc
('Summit' or the 'Company')
SUMMIT OBTAINS INNOVATIVE ANTIBIOTIC DISCOVERY AND DEVELOPMENT
PLATFORM THROUGH ACQUISITION OF DISCUVA LTD
-- Positions Summit as a Leader in Research & Development of New Classes of Antibiotics
-- Enhances Summit's Broader Business in Rare and Infectious Diseases
-- Supports Mission to Discover and Develop Therapies for
Patients in Areas of Substantial Unmet Need
-- Conference Call to be Held 3 January 2018, 1:00pm GMT / 8:00am EST
Oxford, UK, 23 December 2017 - Summit Therapeutics plc (NASDAQ:
SMMT, AIM: SUMM), the drug discovery and development company
advancing therapies for rare diseases and infectious diseases,
announces it has obtained an innovative research and development
platform for the generation of differentiated antibiotic compounds
through its acquisition of Discuva Limited ('Discuva'), a privately
held UK-based company. The acquisition expands Summit's interests
in infectious diseases that are led by its flagship precision C.
difficile infection ('CDI') antibiotic candidate ridinilazole. The
Company is now better placed to advance additional potential drug
treatments for patients with serious bacterial infections where
there is substantial unmet need, while in parallel continuing to
advance its clinical and research programme in Duchenne muscular
dystrophy.
"The global threat from multi-drug resistant bacterial
infections continues to rise. There are few new antibiotics in
development, with most of those being iterations of known classes
of antibiotics, meaning there is an urgent need for the development
of novel antibiotics," commented Mr Glyn Edwards, Chief Executive
Officer of Summit. "With the acquisition, Summit is positioned as a
leader in the research and development of new classes of
antibiotics as exemplified by our precision antibiotic candidate
ridinilazole for the treatment of C. difficile infection. Using
this platform, we aim to generate a pipeline of new mechanism of
action antibiotics that address other serious infectious disease
threats."
"Our vision is to prioritise the development of novel
antibiotics against pathogens where an urgent unmet need exists and
we have the ability to show advantages over current treatments,"
added Dr David Roblin, Chief Operating Officer and President of
Research and Development of Summit. "The addition of this platform,
coupled with our expertise in the discovery and clinical
development of antibiotics, positions us to create new classes of
antibiotics that target current and emergent bacterial threats for
which there are only inadequate therapies."
The proprietary bacterial genetics-based platform facilitates
the discovery and development of novel, differentiated antibiotics.
This platform combines transposon technology with bioinformatics to
create a powerful tool to identify new antibacterial drug targets,
elucidate antibiotic mechanisms of action and optimise against
bacterial resistance to generate new antibiotic drug
candidates.
The platform is utilising proprietary libraries of multiple
pathogens associated with antibiotic resistance. These provide
excellent coverage against the ESKAPE pathogens, a leading cause of
multi-drug resistance and hospital acquired infections throughout
the world, and pathogens listed as urgent or serious threats by the
US Centers for Disease Control. With activity demonstrated against
a number of these bacterial targets, and a research collaboration
between Discuva and Roche, the platform has already shown
promise.
Terms of the Acquisition
Under the terms of the acquisition, Summit acquired 100% of the
issued share capital of Discuva. The consideration to Discuva
shareholders comprised of GBP5.0 million in cash and GBP5.0 million
in new ordinary shares of Summit of one penny nominal value ('New
Ordinary Shares') issued to Discuva shareholders at a price of
170.4 pence per share, representing a 3.3% premium to Summit's
mid-market closing share price on 22 December 2017. The 2,934,272
New Ordinary Shares have been allotted and application for their
admission to trading on AIM has been made with dealings expected to
begin on or about 29 December 2017. The New Ordinary Shares
represent approximately 3.99% of the Company's enlarged issued
share capital.
Discuva's principal asset is a genetics-based technology
platform for the generation of antibiotics. In accordance with
applicable accounting standards, costs associated with this
internally generated intangible asset have been expensed rather
than capitalised by Discuva. Summit has acquired Discuva on a
cash-free/debt-free basis. No Discuva personnel will be joining the
Summit board of directors.
Under a collaboration agreement that Discuva has with F.
Hoffmann - La Roche Limited ('Roche'), Roche is obligated to pay
specified development, commercialisation and sales milestone
payments related to any compound developed under the platform that
is or has been optioned by Roche. Summit is obligated to pay to
Discuva shareholders one-half of the economic benefit of any such
payments received from Roche. Separately, certain employees, former
employees and former directors of Discuva are eligible for payments
from Discuva based on specified development and clinical milestones
related to proprietary product candidates developed under the
platform.
All of Discuva's shareholders have undertaken not to dispose of
any of the ordinary shares of Summit acquired in connection with
the transaction until September 2018, subject to limited
exceptions, and have agreed to adhere to orderly market undertaking
provisions with respect to the potential sale of any ordinary
shares for up to a further 12 months. The Discuva shareholders have
provided certain warranties to Summit, subject to a range of
limitations as to time and amount.
The Company's cash runway guidance remains unchanged, as Summit
believes its existing cash and cash equivalents will fund the
Company's activities through 31 December 2018.
Summit will file on Form 6-K with the US Securities and Exchange
Commission ('SEC') additional information about the acquisition of
Discuva. A copy of the Form 6-K will shortly be available to
download after the date of this press release, either from the
Investors section of the Company's website at www.summitplc.com, or
from the SEC website at www.sec.gov.
Conference Call Details
Summit will host a conference call and webcast to review the
acquisition 3 January 2018 at 1:00pm GMT / 8:00am EST. To
participate in the conference call, please dial +44(0)330 336 9105
(UK and international participants) or +1 323 794 2551 (US local
number) and use the conference confirmation code 4713524. Investors
may also access a live audio webcast of the call via the investors
section of the Company's website www.summitplc.com. A replay of the
webcast will be available shortly after the completion of the
call.
About Antibiotic Resistance
Antibiotic resistance is one of the world's most pressing public
health problems. Bacteria that were once easily treatable can
become dangerous infections if they develop resistance to
antibiotics. The incidence of infections due to resistance
organisms is on the rise with the 2016 Review on Antimicrobial
Resistance estimating that 700,000 patients die annually from
antibiotic resistant infections; this figure has been projected to
rise to 10 million by 2050 if no action is taken.
About Summit Therapeutics
Summit is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery,
development and commercialisation of novel medicines for
indications for which there are no existing or only inadequate
therapies. Summit is conducting clinical programs focused on the
genetic disease Duchenne muscular dystrophy and the infectious
disease C. difficile infection. Further information is available at
www.summitplc.com and Summit can be followed on Twitter
(@summitplc).
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes
of Article 7 of EU Regulation 596/2014 (MAR).
For more information, please contact:
Summit
Glyn Edwards / Richard Pye 44 (0)1235 443
(UK office) Tel: 951
Erik Ostrowski / Michelle Avery
(US office) +1 617 225 4455
Cairn Financial Advisers LLP +44 (0)20 7213
(Nominated Adviser) Tel: 0880
Liam Murray / Tony Rawlinson
+44 (0)20 7496
N+1 Singer (Joint Broker) Tel: 3000
Aubrey Powell / Jen Boorer
+44 (0)20 7886
Panmure Gordon (Joint Broker) Tel: 2500
Freddy Crossley, Corporate
Finance
Tom Salvesen, Corporate Broking
MacDougall Biomedical Communications
(US) Tel: +1 781 235 3060
Karen Sharma ksharma@macbiocom.com
Consilium Strategic Communications +44 (0)20 3709
(UK) Tel: 5700
Mary-Jane Elliott / Jessica summit@consilium-comms.com
Hodgson /
Philippa Gardner/ Rosie Phillips
Forward-looking Statements
Any statements in this press release about Summit's future
expectations, plans and prospects, including but not limited to,
statements about the potential benefits and future operation of the
acquired platform or Discuva, including any potential future
payments to or from Summit related thereto, clinical and
preclinical development of Summit's product candidates and the
potential for their commercialisation, the therapeutic potential of
Summit's product candidates, the potential submission of
applications for regulatory approvals, the sufficiency of Summit's
cash resources, and the timing of initiation, completion and
availability of data from clinical trials, and other statements
containing the words "anticipate," "believe," "continue," "could,"
"estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "plan," "potential,"
"predict," "project," "should," "target," "would," and similar
expressions, constitute forward-looking statements within the
meaning of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
Summit's actual results, performance or achievements could differ
materially from those expressed or implied by forward-looking
statements it makes as a result of a variety of risks and
uncertainties, including those related to: Summit's ability to
effectively use the platform to identify new potential drug
development candidates; Summit's ability to realise the anticipated
benefits of the Discuva acquisition, including the possibility that
the expected benefits from the transaction will not be realised or
will not be realised within the expected time period; negative
effects of the announcement of the acquisition on the market price
of Summit's ordinary shares and/or American Depository Shares;
significant transaction costs, unknown liabilities, the risk of
litigation related to the acquisition, as well as other business
effects, including the effects of industry, market, economic,
political or regulatory conditions; changes in tax and other laws,
regulations, rates and policies; the sufficiency of the Company's
cash resources and its ability to obtain adequate financing in the
future for its foreseeable and unforeseeable operating expenses and
capital requirements and other factors discussed in the "Risk
Factors" section of filings that Summit makes with the Securities
and Exchange Commission, including Summit's Annual Report on Form
20-F for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2017. Accordingly,
readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking
statements or information. In addition, any forward-looking
statements included in this press release represent Summit's views
only as of the date of this release and should not be relied upon
as representing Summit's views as of any subsequent date. Summit
specifically disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking
statements included in this press release.
-END-
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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