Ark receives Finnish Grants (8381J)
July 06 2011 - 2:00AM
UK Regulatory
TIDMAKT
RNS Number : 8381J
Ark Therapeutics Group PLC
06 July 2011
ARK THERAPEUTICS GROUP PLC (the "Company")
Ark receives EUR0.6 million Finnish grants for development of
lentiviral production platform using baculoviruses and validation
of its GMP3 manufacturing facility
Publication of article on advances in Baculo-Lentiviral
production technology
London, UK, 6 July 2011 - Ark Therapeutics Group plc (AKT:LSE)
("Ark" or "the Company") is pleased to announce that it has been
awarded a grant of up to EUR0.4 million from Finnish Funding Agency
for Technology and Innovation (TEKES) to support the further
development of Ark's proprietary lentiviral vector production
technology using baculoviruses ("Baculo-lentiviral") to achieve the
scale and GMP quality required for clinical use. Ark has also been
awarded a EUR0.2 million grant from Finnish governmental
organization Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the
Environment (ELY-centre) to progress validation work in its GMP3
manufacturing facility in Kuopio.
Ark is also pleased to announce that Nature's Gene Therapy
journal has published in its June issue(1) a paper describing Ark's
latest advances in world leading Baculo-lentiviral vector
production technology. This work was conducted by Ark scientists in
Kuopio, Finland in collaboration with researchers from the
University of Eastern Finland and the IBET institute in
Portugal.
Lentivirus can be a highly effective vector for gene therapy
applications by virtue of its efficient transduction of both
dividing and non-dividing cells, long-term stable transgene
expression and low immunogenicity. However, difficulties in
plasmid-based production methods have limited its clinical
applications. Ark scientists have previously described(2) Ark's
Baculo-lentiviral production system for lentiviral vector
production using adherent cells. The latest improvements described
in the June paper are the adaption of the production of lentiviral
vectors to a suspension cell culture system using recombinant
baculoviruses delivering all elements required for the latest
generation of safe, high titer stocks of non-replicating lentiviral
vectors. Effective purification by rapid scaleable ion-exchange
chromatography was also demonstrated and produced viruses that were
shown to mediate effective transduction in vivo.
Ark's Baculo-lentiviral system makes large scale lentivirus
production much more efficient and cost-effective. The support from
TEKES and ELY-centre will enable this technology to be established
as a production platform within Ark's GMP manufacturing
facility.
Professor Seppo Yla-Herttuala, Ark's Consultant Director of
Molecular Medicine and the current President of the European
Society of Gene and Cell Therapy, commented: "The TEKES and
ELY-centre grants and the Baculo-lentiviral publication further
demonstrate Ark's international reputation as a world-leader in
gene-based medicines and its pre-eminence in biotherapeutic and
viral based manufacturing founded on Ark's unrivalled viral
manufacturing expertise. We look forward to announcing further
progress in this area in due course."
For further information please
contact:
Ark Therapeutics Group plc
Martyn Williams, CEO Tel: + 44 (0)20 7388 7722
Iain Ross, Chairman
Financial Dynamics
Ben Atwell Tel: +44 (0)20 7831 3113
Susan Quigley
Ark Therapeutics Group plc
Ark Therapeutics Group plc is a specialist healthcare group (the
"Group") addressing high value areas of unmet medical need within
vascular disease and cancer. These are large and growing markets,
where opportunities exist for effective new products to generate
significant revenues.
Ark has an early stage pipeline emanating from collaborations
with University College, London and the AI Virtanen Institute in
Kuopio, Finland, the development of which it intends to progress in
collaboration with pharmaceutical and biotech partners.
In addition Ark has the ability to off-set a proportion of its
R&D costs and to generate sustainable revenues through the
exploitation of its proprietary technology platform, process
development, scale-up and manufacturing capabilities on behalf of
third parties.
Ark has its origins in businesses established in the mid-1990s
by Professor John Martin and Mr Stephen Barker of University
College London and Professor Seppo Yla-Herttuala of the AI Virtanen
Institute at the University of Kuopio, Finland, all of whom remain
consultants on the Company's research and development
programmes.
Ark's shares were first listed on the London Stock Exchange in
March 2004 (AKT.L).
This announcement includes "forward-looking statements" which
include all statements other than statements of historical facts,
including, without limitation, those regarding the Group's
financial position, business strategy, plans and objectives of
management for future operations (including development plans and
objectives relating to the Group's products and services), and any
statements preceded by, followed by or that include forward-looking
terminology such as the words "targets", "believes", "estimates",
"expects", "aims", "intends", "will", "can", "may", "anticipates",
"would", "should", "could" or similar expressions or the negative
thereof. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown
risks, uncertainties and other important factors beyond the Group's
control that could cause the actual results, performance or
achievements of the Group to be materially different from future
results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such
forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are
based on numerous assumptions regarding the Group's present and
future business strategies and the environment in which the Group
will operate in the future. Among the important factors that could
cause the Group's actual results, performance or achievements to
differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include
those relating to Ark's funding requirements, regulatory approvals,
clinical trials, reliance on third parties, intellectual property,
key personnel and other factors. These forward-looking statements
speak only as at the date of this announcement. The Group expressly
disclaims any obligation or undertaking to disseminate any updates
or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained in this
announcement to reflect any change in the Group's expectations with
regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances
on which any such statements are based. As a result of these
factors, readers are cautioned not to rely on any forward-looking
statement.
(1) Lesch HP et al, Gene Therapy 2011 18: 531-8 "Production and
purification of lentiviral vectors generated in 293T suspension
cells with baculoviral vectors."
(2) Lesch HP et al, Gene Therapy 2008 15: 1280-6 "Generation of
lentivirus vectors using recombinant baculoviruses."
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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