Drug discovery and development company e-Therapeutics (LON:ETX) expects to see the first findings from its new programme of clinical trials before the end of this year. 

By then, it should have phase II data on one drug and phase I data on two more.

It booked a pre-tax loss of £3.86 million in the year to January 31 2012 compared with a loss of £2.66 million a year earlier. 

The results reflect increasing investment in drug discovery and drug development.

The company raised £16.7 million through a share placing last year and has £14 million in cash, which will support all the drug discovery and development plans the company currently has into 2014.

Chief financial officer Daniel Elger said: “We are in a very strong financial position and are able to carry on investing to create value in the business.”

The company is focused on four clinical candidates spanning cancer, psychiatric disorders and infectious diseases. 

It uses a novel approach of network pharmacology for drug discovery. The platform analyses networks of proteins associated with particular diseases.

The method differs from other conventional drug discovery approaches, which are generally based on targeting single proteins.

Panmure Gordon analyst Savvas Neophytou said: “The company’s platform technology remains attractive to us, and we see it as the primary reason to invest in the stock.”

The broker reiterated its ‘buy’ recommendation with a target price of 76 pence.

E-Therapeutics chief executive Professor Malcolm Young said: “We have reshaped the business this year, building a new discovery team around our unique network pharmacology platform and bringing better focus to development of products entering the clinic. 

“These changes underpin our expectation of substantial progress over the next twelve months, beginning with the imminent entry into clinical trials of our cancer drug ETS2101.”

In the update, the company said it has moved the development of its C.Difficile, a bacterium that causes severe diarrhoea, candidate, Clostriban, back to take a closer look at some of the ‘mundane’ features such as its stability, rather than efficacy or potency. 

Young said: “We are taking advantage of the fact that we’re not just playing with one asset. We’re not a one trick pony.”

Hospital infection and depression treatments, ETX1153a and ETS6103 are “on time and on target” and due to enter trials this year.

Young added: “At the moment we are luxuriating in having plenty of money, a platform that is really hot and the perception that we are the leaders of it and the ability to deliver the clinical programme that we’ve set out.”

The share price was down 3 per cent at 38 pence.

ReNeuron Group (LON:RENE) chief executive Michael Hunt this morning welcomed the move by the Canadian authorities to grant marketing approval for the world’s first manufactured stem cell drug.

Osiris Therapeutics was last week given the green light for Prochymal, used to treat graft versus host disease.

This is an important landmark for other firms in this emerging sector of the life sciences industry such as ReNeuron, which is using stem cells to treat stroke patients.

Hunt said: "We congratulate Osiris on the achievement of the world's first marketing approval for an off-the-shelf stem cell treatment. 

“We believe that this is a defining moment, opening up the therapeutic paradigm of stem cell treatments of this kind. 

“Our own stem cell treatments are also off-the-shelf in nature, so it is particularly reassuring to see that this completely new approach to medicine is being increasingly endorsed by regulatory authorities around the globe."

The ReNeuron CEO will present to delegates today at the World Stem Cells & Regenerative Medicine Conference in London.

This will provide a summary of the company's stem cell technologies, including ReN001 for stroke. 

An update on its PISCES phase-one clinical trial of ReN001 is scheduled for next month, ReNeuron confirmed this morning.

Andrew L Pearlman, president and chief executive, will present a corporate overview at the conference, which last year attracted 6,000 industry professionals, engineers and scientists.

Medgenics said the event gives it a “significant opportunity” to demonstrate Biopump, which focuses on the sustained production and dosing of therapeutic proteins using a patient's own tissue.

The company passed a major milestone earlier this week when the US Food and Drug Administration gave clearance to begin a phase IIb trial of EPODURE to treat anaemia in kidney failure patients.

Epodure is one of three protein therapy products in development using Biopump technology.

As well as Epodure, there is Infradure for the treatment of hepatitis and Hemodure, for haemophilia.

Medgenics’ strategy is to develop and/or out-license a pipeline of future Biopump products targeting the large and rapidly growing global protein therapy market. 

This market is forecast to be worth $132 billion in 2013. 

Human tissue specialist Asterand (LON:ATD) said it expects to ask for shareholder approval for the sale of its non-BioSeek Tissue Based Solutions business in the next few weeks.

Shareholders applauded the news with the shares up 37 per cent today.

It is also considering options for its other subsidary, BioSeek which provides cell-based human disease models for drug discovery. 

Asterand said: “The board also continues to explore a number of alternatives in respect of the BioSeek business including the continuation of the business on a stand-alone basis or the sale of the business after the potential disposal of the Tissue business.”

It also said it is managing its cash flow carefully so that it will have the necessary funds to complete a transaction for the Tissue business.

In April, the company said it had been unable to find a single buyer for the business as a whole.

Asterand said that despite ‘volatile’ trading conditions and the distractions of the sales processes, revenue remained flat overall in the period to 31 March.

Revenue for the Tissue business improved, while BioSeek revenue reduced.

The sale of the Tissue business enable Asterand to repay its creditors but additional funding would need to be sought to keep the BioSeek business going or if it needs funds for its sale.

The group is also considering delisting after the disposal of the Tissue business in order to cut costs.

The company said that with the robust antibody and T cell responses generated, it has achieved proof of principle.

By design, Inovio's SynCon flu vaccine is not matched to any single virus.

The company's SynCon technology allows it to design synthetic vaccines with the potential to protect against unmatched sub-types and strains of pathogens, including newly emergent, unknown strains of a virus that will periodically emerge through mutation, as in the case of the flu.

Importantly, the company said the avian flu vaccine generated a hemagglutination inhibition (HAI) titer of 1:40 or higher against at least one of the six tested H5N1 strains in 8 of 17, or 47 per cent, of immunized subjects.

HAI measurements from the blood are used to assess the generation of protective HA antibody responses generated by a vaccine. Generating an HAI titer of 1:20 is generally regarded as a positive response to the vaccine, while a titer of 1:40 or higher in the blood of vaccinated subjects is generally associated with protection against seasonal flu viruses and has been observed in multiple subtypes, Inovio said.

Twelve of 17, or 71 per cent of vaccines generated an HAI titer of 1:20 or higher, indicating a positive vaccine response, against at least one H5N1 strain.

In an unprecedented result, two vaccinated subjects demonstrated an HAI titer of 1:20 or higher against all six strains tested.

"Our goal has been to develop a truly universal influenza vaccine capable of providing years of protection across subtypes and strains," said president and CEO, Dr. J. Joseph Kim.

"The protective levels of antibody responses generated by our universal H5N1 vaccine against diverse unmatched strains of this dangerous subtype provides proof of principle for our SynCon universal flu program and our other antibody-based vaccine products.

"We are planning further development initiatives for this program and look forward to forthcoming data from INO-3510, our universal vaccine for the influenza H5N1 and H1N1."

The major challenge to developing broadly effective vaccines against the flu is that within subtypes, there are hundreds of strains that can vary slightly and that can frequently mutate to create new strains, the company said.

Today's vaccines provide protection by matching targeted virus strains, which are those predicted to an issue in the next flu season - but they often fail to be protective because the predicted strains often change as the next flu season emerges.

Subtypes can also reassort, Inovio said, meaning strains from different subtypes combine with one another, which is usually the cause of pandemic flu outbreaks.

For example, a strain of the deadly influenza subtype H5N1, which has killed about 60 per cent of everyone infected by the virus but does not currently pass easily from person to person, may combine with a strain of H1N1 or other subtype that has a high infection rate - creating a more virulent new strain.

Inovio also said that several recent published studies have shown that current H5N1 viruses can be manipulated to become more infectious.

There is therefore a clear need for universal flu vaccines capable of protecting against multiple, changing strains of the flu.

In the phase I study reported on Wednesday, a total of 17 patients completed a full H5N1 immunization regimen, consisting of two intramuscular vaccinations with a synthetic DNA vaccine encoding three flu antigens. This was followed by two intradermal vaccinations of only the HA antigen, using Inovio's skin electroporation device.

The vaccine was found to be well tolerated at each immunization. Reported adverse events and injection site reactions were mild to moderate and required no treatment, the company said.

Previously, Inovio reported that two intramuscular immunizations alone generated strong T cell immune responses against 72 per cent of the vaccinated subjects. The T cell responses from this study "mirrored the best-in-class T cell responses" generated from Inovio's other Phase I SynCon vaccine trials for HIV and cervical cancer/dysplasia, the company said.

Inovio is advancing its universal flu vaccine strategy with a second phase I influenza vaccine study, which will test the INO-3510 multi-subtype SynCon vaccine consisting of the H5N1 and H1N1 subtypes, delivered only through intradermal electroporation.

The aim is to provide cross-strain protection against H1N1 and H5N1 viruses.

The company is also advancing its H3N2 and Type B SynCon vaccines through preclinical development. Its plan is to combine these components into a single universal flu vaccine, which could protect against multiple divergent strains of seasonal and pandemic flu viruses.

Inovio's clinical programs include phase II studies for cervical dysplasia, leukemia and hepatitis C virus and phase I studies for influenza and HIV.

Soligenix is a development stage biopharmaceutical company, developing products to treat life-threatening side effects of cancer treatments and serious gastrointestinal diseases, as well as vaccines for certain bioterrorism agents.

In late April, the company announced further progress in the development of ThermoVax, its vaccine thermostabilization technology that allows vaccines that usually need to be refrigerated to maintain their efficacy at higher temperatures.

Soligenix said that progress had been made based on the stability of prototype vaccines that had been kept at elevated temperatures for longer than three months.

The development of ThermoVax is being supported by a $9.4 million National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID) grant, for biodefense indications against ricin toxin and anthrax exposure.

Soligenix said previous test results had indicated that the company's aluminum-adjuvanted ricin toxin vaccine, known as RiVax, retained effectiveness and potency, while stored at 40 degrees Celsius for one month, when combined with the ThermoVax technology.

Confirmatory results extended these initial observations to more than three months when the vaccine was kept at 40 degrees Celsius, said the company.

ThermoVax is able to produce “stable and potent” vaccine formulations, said Soligenix, by combining precise lyophilization technology with conventional aluminum adjuvants.

The lyophilization process is often employed to extend the shelf life of drugs, by removing the water from the pharmaceutical preparation.

Vaccines that undergo this process often lose their potency, especially if the vaccine is made with aluminum salt adjuvants, as most are.

Soligenix's technology, however, achieves this lyophilization effect but maintains the sensitive material in the vaccine, making the technology especially valuable for biodefense or pandemic situations, where drugs need to be stockpiled for a long period of time.

The underlying technology was developed by Drs. John Carpenter and Theodore Randolph at the University of Colorado, whose team performed the studies along with Dr. Nicholas Mantis of The New York State Department of Health in Albany.

Through its biodefense division, Soligenix is also developing its SGX204 vaccine, which is designed to protect against the lethal effects of exposure to anthrax, in addition to RiVax.

Soligenix is also developing OrbeShield for the treatment of gastrointestinal acute radiation syndrome (GI ARS) and said it has demonstrated "statistically significant" preclinical survival results in a canine model.

Revenues for the quarter that ended March 31 were $647,418 as compared to $808,005 for the first quarter of 2011.

Soligenix said the decrease was related to a reduction in reimbursable costs from its orphan drug grant covering a portion of its phase 3 clinical trial of orBec, in the treatment of acute gastrointestinal graft-versus-host disease.

The company reported a net loss of $1.44 million or 13 cents per share, compared to a wider $1.72 million loss, or 16 cents per share, for the year earlier quarter.

The narrowed loss was due to reduced spending after the stoppage of the orBec trial, Soligenix said. The study was stopped in September 2011,  and the company said it has continued to incur minor costs associated with the close out of the clinical sites, as well as data collection and analysis.

Soligenix's research and development expenses for the quarter were $876,794, down from $1.37 million a year earlier.

General and administrative expenses for the quarter were $655,043, versus $604,010 a year earlier. At the end of the quarter, Soligenix’s cash position was approximately $5.32 million, with working capital of around $4.44 million.

"In the first quarter of 2012 we saw meaningful progress in our vaccine/biodefense business segment particularly with our novel vaccine thermostabilization technology, ThermoVax,” said president and CEO Christopher J. Schaber, PhD.

"We also continue to progress with development efforts of our oral BDP program for pediatric Crohn's disease and plan to initiate a phase 2A clinical trial this year. We remain committed to enhancing our product development pipeline through internal efforts and external strategic alliances.

"We look forward to reporting on further progress this year regarding our Vaccine/biodefense programs."

The company has announced a number of notable operational achievements of late, including promising results from its preclinical study of SGX202 (oral BDP), testing for the treatment of gastrointestinal acute radiation syndrome in dogs.

The study results indicated that dogs treated with SGX202 starting 24 hours after exposure to lethal doses of total body irradiation (TBI) demonstrated "statistically significant" improvement in survival when compared to control dogs.

Soligenix said these results show that SGX202 has the potential to reduce the inflammatory storm induced by the radiation-damaged GI tract.

Also earlier this year, the company unveiled preliminary results from a phase 1/2 clinical trial of SGX201, a time-release formulation of oral BDP for the prevention of acute radiation enteritis.

The study showed that oral administration of SGX201 was safe and well tolerated across all four dose groups.

Acute radiation enteritis is caused by the radiation-induced death of cells in the lining of the bowel.

Soligenix said 16 subjects with rectal cancer scheduled to undergo concurrent radiation and chemotherapy prior to surgery were enrolled in one of four dose groups in the study.

The main goal of the study was to evaluate the safety and tolerability of escalating doses of SGX201, as well as to assess the preliminary efficacy of SGX201 for the prevention of signs and symptoms of acute radiation enteritis.

Revenue rose to $22.1 million from $19.6 million while the underlying loss for the three months to March was $2.7 million, excluding non-cash charges.

Total net losses were US$9.2 million (US$9.7 million). 

NeoStem is aiming to become a single source for the collection, storage, manufacturing, therapeutic development and transportation for cells for cell-based medicine.

Currently it is focusing on progressing its stem cell therapeutic contract manufacturing business, Progenitor Cell Therapy (PCT).

Stem cells are those that can self-renew, differentiate and mature into specialised cells such as blood cells or muscle cells and are currently a hot topic in biomedicine.

PCT was named by Baxter International (NYSE:BAX) in February as the manufacturer for a phase three stem cell trial for patients with the  coronary artery disease chronic myocardial ischemia (CMI).

Amorcyte, which NeoStem acquired in October 2011, is developing a cell therapy, AMR-001, for the treatment of cardiovascular disease that aims to prevent heart tissue damage following a heart attack. AMR-001 is currently in phase II trials.

NeoStem also has a network of stem cell therapeutic providers in China, as well as a 51 per cent ownership interest in a Chinese generic pharmaceutical manufacturing company Suzhou Erye Pharmaceutical.

NeoStem is looking to sell its stake in Suzhou to bolster its cell therapy business. 

The company raised $6.8 million gross through a share placing in April.

adds broker comment

Regenerative tissue specialist Tissue Regenix (LON:TRX) has completed a preclinical trial on a new replacement cartilage with results due later this year.

Tissue said initial surgeon feedback had been encouraging, adding it believes there is there is a large but un-met clinical need for the product.

The company, which raised £25 million at the end of last year to fund its product development programme, added it had also begun to refine the production processes for a ligament repair product using implants from a pig. Preclinical work will start shortly.

House broker Peel Hunt added it had been a good year for Tissue with the group securing access to IP from its Brazilian university collaborator PUCPR, growing clinical acceptance of its CE Marked vascular patch and positive data on its heart valves.

Tissue Regenix has patented a tissue decellularisation technology called dCell.

It involves taking tissue from a human donor or an animal, usually a pig, washing and treating it to remove any trace of the donor’s characteristics or DNA, at which point it can be re-used in a human body.

One key advantage of the process is that it leaves the structure of the tissue- or the scaffold – intact. The human body then repopulates the new skin or organ with the recipient’s own DNA, solving the issue of possible rejection.

As well as cartilages and ligaments,  the company is working on replacement heart valves, skin and vascular patches using dCell.

Earlier this week, it was also reproted that Jessie Townley was successfully treated for leg ulcers at University Hospital South Manchester using Tissue Regenix’s dCell process and skin taken from dead donors. 

The 92 -year old grandmother was part of a 20 person trial in collaboration with NHS Blood & Transplant into chronic wounds treatment. Treating skin ulcers is said to cost the NHS £1 billion a year.

John Samuel, Tissue's executive chairman, said: “The chronic global shortage of donor tissue will result in clinical demand for products to address this issue continuing to increase. Tissue Regenix's programmes in Cardiac, Orthopaedics, Vascular and Advanced Woundcare are ideally placed to provide long term solutions to replace and regenerate diseased or aging body parts.”

The company posted a loss for the year to January 2012 of £2.93 million (£5.67 million) and finished the year with a cash balance of £28 million.

Operating income of £0.1 million (2011: £0.2 million) was comprised mainly of grant income.

Peel Hunt currently has a 'buy' stance on Tissue shares with a target price of 20 pence.

It means the company can prepare to launch the product used in cosmetic surgery on the Chinese market -expected by the end of this year.

The firm's wholly owned subsidiary, Changchun Botai was awarded the licence to manufacture medical collagen injectable filler, it said today.

It will be marketed under the brand name "Fillderm".

Cathay International's chief executive Jin-Yi Lee said: "Today's news represents a significant milestone for Changchun Botai, Cathay's first investment in the healthcare sector in the PRC.  

"We believe that the launch of our high quality Fillderm products will be well received given the growing demand for aesthetic products in China."

Changchun Botai is the first domestic company in the People's Republic of China with approval to manufacture medical collagen injectable filler.  

Fillderm is a collagen protein used in cosmetic surgery and for repairing skin deficiency, erasing wrinkles and removing pit scars.

The aesthetic products and equipment market in China was estimated at US$100.2 million in 2011 and should reach a projected US$151.6 million in 2014, said the company using the source , Medical Insight, Inc.

Medgenics (LON:MEDG, AMEX:MDGN) announced it has received continued support from the Israeli government -  with the award of a US$2.2 million grant.

The grant comes from the office of the chief scientist (OCS) at the ministry of industry, trade and labour.

It will be used to cover research and development costs of the firm's proprietary Biopump technology for 12 months from October last year to September 2012.

The firm's biopump system sees a tiny sliver of the patient's tissue taken and modified to carry the gene to enable it to continuously produce the required protein to treat the condition.

 It is developing three applications of the technology - to treat anaemia, hepatitis-C and haemophilia. 

Under the terms of the grant, the company will repay the grant in full, plus interest, through royalties on revenue received from commercialising the developed technology. 

President and chief executive of Medgenics Andrew  Pearlman said in a statement: "This marks our sixth consecutive year of being selected to receive non-dilutive funding from the Israeli OCS. 

"We are grateful for this support, which underscores their ongoing belief in the potential of our innovative Biopump platform technology. 

"Prior grants have helped to fund the development of our technology to a point where we are now working to commence clinical trials for the treatment of anaemia and hepatitis in the United States and Israel. 

"We anticipate this grant will further advance our product development and will help us to achieve a number of important milestones."

Amphion Innovations (LON:AMP), which develops medical and technology businesses, told investors today it had secured further loan financing from its chairman James Macaleer.

The company has secured additional unsecured loan financing of US$500,000 from Macaleer, who is interested in 17.43 per cent stake in the company, it said in a stock exchange statement.

The loan is repayable on November 4 this year, and carries interest at 7 per cent per year.

On May 1 this year, the company revealed that a Markman ruling was issued in a Texas patent case involving Axcess International - one of Amphion’s partner companies.

A Markman is a pre-trial hearing in the US District Court, in this instance the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division. 

It is held so a judge can examine evidence from both sides on the appropriate meanings of relevant key words used in a patent claim.

Axcess is alleging that a firm called Savi Technology infringed its patent on a method of improving the range and sensitivity of radio tags.

The judge essentially upheld the validity of Axcess’ claim and set down the case for trial on November 5.

Amphion described the ruling can as “favourable”, though it cautioned that this does not automatically mean that Axcess will win at trial. 

Funding agreement

Earlier this year Immuron secured a A$1.5 million (C$1.5 million) funding agreement with Paladin Labs to continue expansion of its Travelan® product into other territories.

Under the agreement, the initial drawdown will be C$1 million, including a coupon rate of 10% and not repayable until three years from the date of initial drawdown.

Under a licence agreement signed by both parties in late November, Paladin receives exclusive rights to commercialise Travelan in certain territories, including Canada, Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa.

Immuron received an upfront licence fee of C$500,000 for those territories from Paladin and will receive additional performance milestone payments over the term of the licence.


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The conference will take place at the Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach, in Huntington Beach, California. OncoSec Medical will speak at 4:25 pm (PT).

VC in the OC is the first of two signature events held each year by OCTANe, a not-for-profit organization composed of technology executive leaders, entrepreneurs, investors, and other capitalists and advisors in the Orange County area.

This year's event will feature 14 investment presentations that are seeking seed, series A, or later stage venture capital investment.

OnoSec Medical is an emerging drug-medical device company focused on the design, development, and commercialization of medical approaches for the treatment of solid cancers.

In April, OncoSec unveiled positive interim data from a phase IV trial testing its OMS (OncoSec Medical System) ElectroChemotherapy treatment in Europe.

The cancer therapy company uses its OMS electroporation delivery system that applies short electric pulses to cells, causing the opening of pores in the cell membrane, and allowing for the efficient and safe delivery of immunotherapy or chemotherapy agents to treat a range of solid tumour cancers.

The OMS electroporation system has proven to enhance cellular uptake, effectively treating cancerous cells while sparing surrounding healthy tissue cutting through the toxic side effects of current available treatment options like chemotherapy, radiation and surgery.

The company announced last month interim analysis of data from 81 subjects in a phase IV study of patients with primary (new) and locally recurrent squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck.

The patients were treated with OMS ElectroChemotherapy, with the study showing the therapy's ability to provide local tumour control and quality of life outcomes that "compared favourably" to standard outcomes associated with surgery, the company said.

In the interim analysis, local tumor control was achieved in 46 of 49, or 94 percent, of primary tumors and 12 of 21, or 57 percent, of recurrent tumors.

Specifically the patent covers the deployment of the “modified lichenase B polypeptides” used in the platform.

The iBioModulator has been shown to significantly enhance the immune response to a vaccine in two important ways. 

It increases the strength of the initial immune response to a vaccine antigen, and it also extends the duration of the immune response. 

The ability to provide better immune response and longer-term protection without booster inoculations adds significant value to a vaccine.

It reduces the overall costs and logistical difficulties of its use while effectively reaching a higher proportion of the target population.

"The iBioModulator is another platform, separate and independent from our plant-based biologics technology," said chairman Robert Kay. 

"Although we recommend its use together with our iBioLaunch platform to achieve maximum efficiency in producing the fused protein, the iBioModulator is usable independently and is applicable to recombinant vaccines made with any system.  We expect strong interest in its use." 

Efficacy studies in animals have confirmed the superior performance of certain iBioModulator-based vaccines.

After entering into a licensing and distribution agreement with Mega Lifesciences late last year, the company has now received a first order, which will be dispatched in June.

The order is six months ahead of schedule and is as a result of the successful early registration of the calcium chew in Malaysia and Vietnam.

Registrations in Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Cambodia and Myanmar continue and are expected to follow soon, Oxford told investors today, adding that it has extended the agreement to cover Peru, Ecuador, Ukraine, Kazakstan, Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan, where Mega has existing operations.

Mega, whose products cover segments such as bone and joint health, cardiology, diabetes and gastroenterology, will distribute the calcium chew alongside existing product sales.

“With Mega we are making great progress in the Far East,” said chief executive of Oxford Nigel Theobald.

“We believe this will be the first order of many and look forward to updating the market in due course on this and the continued expansion of our OXP chew technology.”

Oxford has previously said that sales would rise to £250,000 per annum by the third year after launch.

In 2011, the company’s revenues reached £292,000, the bulk of which was provided by two orders for the OXP chew calcium delivery product from its Brazilian partner Aché Laboratórios.

Back in March, Oxford told investors that this year’s revenues were already on the way to eclipsing 2011.

Gene therapy specialist Silence Therapeutics(LON:SLN) could earn substantially more in royalties and milestone payments after partner Quark Pharmaceuticals renegotiated a research deal with drug giant Pfizer.

Quark incorporates Silence’s AtuRNAi gene silencing technology in PF-655, a drug under trial with Pfizer to treat patients with visual impairments caused by changes in pressure within the eye.

Silence sub-licenses its technology to Quark and said today that its share of potential royalties could now reach US$120 million following the licence amendment against a possible US$95 million under the previous terms.

Silence has already received US$6 million from Quark from the licence for PF-655.

Chief finance officer Max Herrmann said US$120 million was ‘very realistic’ if PF-655 gets to market.

“If the product only gets further in development what we’ve said is the next milestone we could get is the start of a phase III programme and we could get a milestone of approximately US$4 million.”

It is estimated that the milestone would be achieved by 2014.

"I think the importance here is one of our products that was originated through Silence’s technology, which is the PF-655, is being developed for another opportunity.

"So where we previously had five clinical programmes, one of which was internal and four with partners, there is now a sixth programme,” added Herrmann.

The new arrangement with Pfizer will enable Quark to perform a Phase 2a clinical study to assess the effect of PF-655 on moderate and advanced Open-Angle Glaucoma (OAG) which causes the gradual loss of sight.

The OAG study will be conducted in parallel with a Phase 2b study of PF-655 in diabetic macular oedema, swelling in the eye caused by diabetes.

Tony Sedgwick, Silence’s chief executive said: "This is an exciting development for Silence. This will create a fifth external clinical program using Silence's IP and AtuRNAi, which is funded and managed by one of our partners.

This will increase the potential share of milestones and royalties that Silence can earn under its agreement with Quark and is a further validation of the Silence technology."

Daniel Zurr, president and chief executive of Quark stated: "We are very excited to evaluate the effect of PF-655 on visual loss in glaucoma in future clinical studies.

The mechanism of action and biological activity of PF-655 are novel and its axon regenerating effects may provide a long awaited breakthrough in the treatment of glaucoma.”

Silence’s expertise is the development and delivery of targeted, systemic RNA interference (RNAi) therapeutics for the treatment of serious diseases.

This “gene silencing” is a way of controlling or shutting down some of the 40,000 genes in the human body and copying the body's own method of fighting a virus.

The process may eventually be a way to fight cancers and other serious diseases.

Quark incorporates Silence’s AtuRNAi gene silencing technology in PF-655, a drug under trial with Pfizer to treat patients with visual impairments caused by changes in pressure within the eye.

Silence sub-licenses its technology to Quark and said today that its share of potential royalties could now reach US$120 million following the licence amendment against a possible US$95 million under the previous terms.

It has already received $6m from Quark from the licence for PF-655.

The new arrangement with Pfizer will enable Quark to perform a Phase 2a clinical study to assess the effect of PF-655 on moderate and advanced Open-Angle Glaucoma (OAG).

The OAG study will be conducted in parallel with a Phase 2b study of PF-655 in diabetic macular oedema.

Tony Sedgwick, Silence’s chief executive said: "This is an exciting development for Silence. This will create a fifth external clinical program using Silence's IP and AtuRNAi, which is funded and managed by one of our partners.

This will increase the potential share of milestones and royalties that Silence can earn under its agreement with Quark and is a further validation of the Silence technology."

Daniel Zurr, president and chief executive of Quark stated: "We are very excited to evaluate the effect of PF-655 on visual loss in glaucoma in future clinical studies.

The mechanism of action and biological activity of PF-655 are novel and its axon regenerating effects may provide a long awaited breakthrough in the treatment of glaucoma.”

Silence’s expertise is the development and delivery of targeted, systemic RNA interference (RNAi) therapeutics for the treatment of serious diseases.

This “gene silencing” is a way of controlling or shutting down some of the 40,000 genes in the human body and copying the body's own method of fighting a virus.

The process may eventually be a way to fight cancers and other serious diseases.

Human tissue specialist Asterand (LON:ATD) said it is ‘exploring a number of alternatives’ after the potential bidder for its BioSeek business dropped out today.

Asterand said it was making good progress with sale of the Tissue business.

On Monday, Asterand said it had signed letters of intent to sell each of its two businesses, BioSeek and non-BioSeek Tissue Based Solutions, separately. The company initially put itself up for sale in October 2011.

It added today: “The board is exploring a number of alternatives in respect of the BioSeek business, including securing additional funding from a third party, with the intention of reaching an agreement alongside its potential disposal of the Tissue business.”

Bioseek provides cell-based human disease models for drug discovery and development.

Asterand acquired BioSeek in February 2010. Asterand is a global supplier of human tissue and human tissue-based research services to drug discovery scientists.

The share price dropped 18 per cent to 2.15 pence today.

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A Markman is a pretrial hearing in the US District Court, in this instance the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division. 

It is held so a judge can examine evidence from both sides on the appropriate meanings of relevant key words used in a patent claim.

Axcess is alleging that a firm called Savi Technology infringed its patent on a method of improving the range and sensitivity of radio tags.

The judge essentially upheld the validity of Axcess’ claim and set down the case for trial on November 5.

Amphion described the ruling can as “favourable”, though it cautioned that this does not automatically mean that Axcess will win at trial.  

Axcess chief executive Allan Griebenow said: "Having reached this important milestone, we now look forward to the trial in early November.  We encourage interested parties to read the order.

“Axcess remains fully committed to the protection of this patent and others in our intellectual property portfolio."

Amphion owns 14 per cent of Axcess and holds US$1.8 million of debt.

A copy of the court's ruling can be downloaded from www.axcessinc.com.