Epistem Share Discussion Threads

[the shuffle man] 07/3/2009 18:22

White House to lift restrictions on embryonic stem cell research

[alftupper] 02/3/2009 10:30

$45m per licensed target plus royalties - my understanding is that they have 250 potential targets - if 1% is taken as 2 successful targets licensed all the way through then the upside could be significant to the current price.

[zagrem] 02/3/2009 08:30

I'll post it then....

RNS Number : 0703O
EpiStem Holdings plc
02 March 2009

For release 2nd March 2009
Epistem Announces Research and Development Collaboration with a Major Pharmaceutical Company
Manchester, UK, 2nd March 2009 - Epistem Plc (LSE:EHP) the UK biotechnology and research services company announced today that they have signed a research and development collaboration with Novartis to identify new drug targets and therapeutics across a variety of disease areas.
The collaboration combines Epistem's stem cell expertise and drug discovery programme, with Novartis's insights into disease pathways & bioinformatics.
Under the terms of the agreement, Novartis will pay Epistem an upfront cash payment of $4.0 million and will provide research funding for 2 years. Novartis has an option to exclusively license targets for development of biotherapeutic
products in exchange for license fees, milestone payments and royalties. For each product developed from targets licensed under the agreement, Epistem is eligible to receive up to $45.0 million in milestones. Furthermore,if leads are commercialised Epistem is eligible to receive tiered royalties on worldwide sales.
Matthew Walls, Epistem CEO, commented: "The collaboration will enable us to accelerate the development of our existing targets with a world class pharmaceutical collaborator and to jointly explore disease opportunities in
regenerative medicine".
Dr Jeffrey Moore, Novel Therapies Division Managing Director said: "The collaboration will leverage each group's strengths to make novel discoveries leading to advances in treating unmet medical needs across several disease areas".

[alftupper] 02/3/2009 08:21

Good announcement out today

[the shuffle man] 25/2/2009 12:33

interims due 11th March

[the shuffle man] 23/2/2009 09:32

Any idea when the interims are out, i see last year they were announced on the 28th Feb so hopefully soon.

[zagrem] 20/2/2009 19:21

TSM got a good few already, but if they do fall back i'll buy again, otherwise i'm happy holding what i have. They have done nothing wrong for me.

[yuka] 19/2/2009 11:09

Whole stem cell sector might be quite interesting if Obama relaxes regulations as expected.

[the shuffle man] 19/2/2009 10:24

Been watching these for a while.

Taken the plunge as i think they have great potential and it dosent seem like the fall back you are waiting for is going to materialise.

[zagrem] 08/2/2009 20:22

Don't watch forever, you can see from volumes hardly anyone follows these and they are at an high, but they've been pretty robust. I'm waiting for another fallback and then will buy a few more, been pretty good to trade on dips so far, which you can see from the charts.

[yuka] 30/4/2008 15:27

Looks like you got your fall back so you can add some more.

[zagrem] 23/4/2008 20:21

Yuka hi, been in these since 156, didn't see a thread. Only got small stake, but thinking of adding more. Don't want to predict future, bit concerned may be a fall back, so waiting for a dip before i do.

[yuka] 23/4/2008 09:28

At this rate perhaps £10 by Christmas not so silly. Really taken off the last week or so.

[alftupper] 14/2/2008 15:26

Yuka - you never know but unlikely - from the grapevine they seem to be making good progress and they have their interims later this month.

[yuka] 11/2/2008 07:44

What are key points? No chance of £10 by Christmas I presume?! Still got my shares from IPO but seems to have gone to sleep.

[alftupper] 11/2/2008 05:41

Got hold of the Edison report on Epistem over the weekend - makes good reading

[alftupper] 02/8/2007 10:34

Another announcement - sounds positive

[alftupper] 28/5/2007 11:32

Looks an interesting opportunity particularly given the announcement of last week.

[yuka] 22/5/2007 08:44

Fine thank you. Are you interested in this tremendous growth opportunity? Need a few more long-term investors on board.....and if you say anything negative I'll moderate you ;)

[invisage] 22/5/2007 07:35

YUKA!!!! How are ya !? :D

[yuka] 22/5/2007 07:33

News out on AstraZeneca tie-up....

RNS Number:9914W

EpiStem Holdings plc

22 May 2007

22nd May 2007

EpiStem Plc announce biomarker studies for new drug development with AstraZeneca

EpiStem Plc (LSE: EHP), the UK epithelial stem cell company, announced today that it had entered into feasibility studies with AstraZeneca to use its proprietary plucked hair biomarker technology to help guide preclinical and clinical development of new cancer drugs.

EpiStem's biomarker technology is a potentially powerful tool to enable drug companies to measure the effects of new cancer treatments over time in a minimally invasive manner. The biomarker technology may help inform the early-stage assessment of drugs in preclinical development thereby assisting go/ no-go decisions thereby reducing the risk of an expensive drug failure in later clinical trials.

The biomarker program has evolved from the discovery by EpiStem scientists of the link between the stem cells in the small intestine and the hair follicle. From this knowledge, the "plucked hair" biomarker has been developed as a non-invasive tool to measure drug effects on adult epithelial stem cells and tissues.

The biomarker technology works by taking plucked human hairs at various times during cancer treatment and analyzing the corresponding changes in gene expression. Gene expression change in hairs can provide drug development companies with a measure of drug exposure, toxicity, dose/schedule and patient selection in preclinical and clinical drug development. This approach also has the potential to offer oncologists a simple means to more effectively treat cancer patients.

Dr Jeff Moore, Managing Director of Novel Therapies at EpiStem said, "The FDA has made it clear that they want new drugs to have biomarkers that show the direct impact of that drug. We are very excited about our biomarker developments and believe that our technology will accelerate the development of new cancer therapeutics throughout development and is well placed to improve the effectiveness of existing treatment regimens. Our partnership with AstraZeneca, one of the leading global pharmaceutical companies, offers an exceptional prospect for our biomarker technology in helping to guide the development of new drugs. Dr Moore also said "at this stage of our development, there were no forecast commercial values associated with the technology programme".

Vice President of AstraZeneca's Oncology Therapy Area, Brent Vose, said, "The ability to use minimally invasive biomarkers to help guide our preclinical and clinical drug development is an important step forward for AstraZeneca's drug development programme. We have been impressed by the 'plucked hair' biomarker technology and look forward to working closely with EpiStem Plc in the successful delivery of our joint feasibility studies."

For more information please contact:

Matthew Walls
Chief Executive Officer - EpiStem Ltd [phone]

Mike Wort, Anna Dunphy
MC Bio-Communications Limited [phone]

[yuka] 05/4/2007 08:26

LONDON (ShareCast) - EpiStem got off to a flying start when it began trading on AIM this morning as the biotech firm focused on commercialising adult stem cells soared 23% from its placing price of 124p.

The group, which is interested in the areas of oncology and gastrointestinal diseases as well as cosmeceutical applications, was valued at £7.39m after it placed 2.5m shares to raise £3.1m, or £2.6m net of expenses.

It said the money will be used to enable the partnering of novel therapeutic compounds, widen the diagnostic platform of the existing cash-flow positive fee for service business and for general corporate services.

"An AIM quotation gives us the profile to expand our service support business as well as become a leading supplier of validated candidate novel therapeutics for a pharmaceutical industry increasingly demanding such targets," said boss Matthew Walls.

EpiStem operates two distinct business divisions, Contract Research Services and Novel Therapies.

The cash generative and profitable Contract Research Services unit provides specialised preclinical efficacy testing mainly for drug development companies on a fee for service basis.

Meanwhile, Novel Therapies, which is focused on developing its own innovative therapeutics and diagnostic biomarkers, has identified 250 potential drug candidates.

The division is also conducting feasibility studies with two drug development companies using its clinical diagnostic biomarker technology.