Physiomics PLC
28 November 2006
PRESS RELEASE
Physiomics plc Announces its Participation in the
European TEMPO Project
Oxford, UK, 28 November 2006 Physiomics plc (AIM:PYC) is pleased to announce
that it has been selected to participate in the TEMPO (Temporal Genomics for
Tailored Chemotherapeutics) Project as one of four Industry partners working
closely with four distinguished European academic research groups. The project
will be coordinated by INSERM unit director Prof Francis Levi, at Paul Brousse
hospital in Villejuif (France).
This three year programme will explore the effect of circadian rhythms (the
body's clock) on changes in cancer cell proliferation and the effectiveness of
cancer drugs. This knowledge will be used to optimise treatment regimen of
individual cancer patients. Physiomics will use its cell simulation
technologies to study the effect of cancer drugs on the cell cycle/circadian
clock system behaviour, at the cellular level and at the tissue level (by
creating a virtual tumour). Then, using software to simulate pharmacokinetics,
the profile of concentrations of drug in blood over time after dosing,
Physiomics will help establish optimised dosing regimens and delivery schedules.
Physiomics will receive approximately #169,000 (Euro252,650) of matched funding
over the three year period and if successful will have access to 3 to 5 new
therapeutic schedules, optimised to patient profiles for 2 main drug classes
against cancer. This knowledge will be used to enhance the Company's own drug
discovery programmes.
The TEMPO consortium involves four academic teams;
* INSERM U776 - the Institut National de la Sante et de la Recherche
Medicale (INSERM-Villejuif, France)
* INRIA - the Institut National de Recherche en Informatique et en
Automatique (INRIA-Rocquencourt, France)
* CNRS - the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (Nice &
Roscoff, France)
* Consorzio Interuniversitario Nazionale per la Bio-oncologia (Chieti,
Italy)
and four SMEs;
* Physiomics PLC (Oxford, United Kingdom)
* Helios BioSciences (Creteil, France),
* H.S. Hospital Services (Aprilia-Latina, Italy)
* INSERM-Transfert (Paris, France) that will manage the project.
Cancer represents the second cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide.
Differences in the molecular characteristics of tumour cells as well as
differences in patient genetic origin, gender, age, lifestyle and circadian
rhythms account for large variability in the progress and duration of cancer
diseases and a patients' individual response to treatment.
Dr Christophe Chassagnole, who will lead the project for Physiomics said "We
believe that the combined cell cycle/circadian clock model in connection with
clinical data would make our simulation engine a powerful tool to address and
solve chronopharmacological and chronotherapeutical scheduling problems"
Dr Paul Harper, a Director of Physiomics plc noted that "Physiomic's technology
was selected over competing systems, providing independent endorsement of the
anticipated ability of our platform to help provide solutions to important
questions being posed by this important study."
For further information:
Dr Paul Harper
07747 842446
Notes to Editors
Physiomics plc (AIM:PYC) is a systems biology company which supplies in silico
simulations customized to proprietary pharmaceutical development projects. It
develops mathematical models of key cellular processes including cancer cell
growth and division. Physiomics' proprietary SystemCellTM software allows the
creation of a population of diverse 'Virtual Cells', each independently
responding to drug action and so more accurately replicating clinical
situations. In 2004, Physiomics entered a strategic alliance with Bayer
Technology Services GmbH to integrate PK-Sim(R) with its novel biological
simulations and to further develop and globally market the enhanced technology
platform.
Integrated in silico experiments help pharmaceutical development teams interpret
the pharmacokinetics and the pharmacodynamics (drug activity and timelines
respectively) of compounds being tested in clinical trials. The company was
founded in 2001 and is based in Oxford, UK. In 2002 it won a UK government SMART
award to develop its Rational Therapy Design System.
For further information, please visit www.physiomics-plc.com
SystemCell is a registered trademark of Physiomics plc.
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This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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