PHYNOVA ANNOUNCES COLLABORATION WITH NORGINE

    
  Phynova Group PLC
  18 November 2008
   

    18 November, 2008


    Phynova Group PLC
    ("Phynova" or the "Company")

    PHYNOVA ANNOUNCES COLLABORATION WITH NORGINE 

    Collaboration
    Phynova (AIM: PYN), a leading developer of botanical drugs, announces that it has today signed an agreement with Norgine Limited
("Norgine"), a leading speciality pharmaceutical company with an extensive pan-European presence, allowing Norgine access to certain of
Phynova's drug candidates.

    Under the terms of the agreement Norgine will assess certain of Phynova's candidates in proprietary assays in order to measure their
potential effectiveness in the treatment of liver disease. Phynova and Norgine have agreed that if this first collaborative phase, which is
expected to take between two and three months, is successful, they will consider further collaborative work in the area of liver disease. 

    Mr Ian Cox, VP Product Development at Norgine commented "We are very pleased to be entering this collaboration with Phynova. Phynova's
business model, deriving potential new drugs from medicinal plants, offers the possibility of a range of new medicines in disease areas that
are of direct relevance to Norgine".

    Dr Tony Mills, CEO of Phynova Limited said "Norgine's interest in Phynova's drug candidates is very encouraging. This agreement
represents an important step in the commercial validation of our approach to botanical drug development." 

    Patent update
    Phynova also announces that the European Patent Office has given Phynova notice of allowance of a patent in Europe covering Phynova's
lead drug candidate PYN17, for symptomatic relief in chronic hepatitis C. A notice of allowance is a written notification that a patent
application has cleared an internal review and is nearing issuance.

    Dr Tony Mills said "The additional news of the notice of allowance of grant of our European patent for PYN17 is also clearly welcome.
Along with the existing patent protection on PYN17 that we already have in the US, this will further strengthen Phynova's ability to
commercialise its drug candidates in the world's largest markets."

    - ENDS -

    For further information, please contact:

 Phynova Group PLC
 John Pool (Executive Chairman)                              Tel: [phone]
 Tony Mills (CEO Phynova Limited)
 Robert Miller (CEO Phynova China Limited)

 John East & Partners Limited
 John East/Simon Clements                                        020 7628 2200

 Capital MS&L                                               Tel: [phone]
 Mary Clark/Anna Mitchell

    About Norgine
    Norgine is an independent, successful European specialty pharmaceutical company that has been established for over 100 years and has a
presence in all the major European markets. In 2007 Norgine's sales were EUR220 million, the 21st consecutive year of double-digit growth.
The company employs over 1,000 people of whom around 400 are in sales and marketing.

    Norgine's current focus is pharmaceutical products that address significant unmet clinical need in areas such as gastroenterology,
hepatology and pain management. The company currently markets a range of products in its key therapeutic areas e.g. MOVICOL® for the
treatment of chronic constipation and faecal impaction, MOVIPREP® a new generation bowel cleansing preparation, KLEAN-PREP® for bowel
preparation prior to colonoscopy, and ORAMORPH® for the treatment of moderate to severe pain associated with cancer.

    Norgine has an active Research and Development effort and currently has products at various stages of clinical development. In addition
to its site at Hengoed, Norgine also has a manufacturing site at Dreux in France.

    Norgine's website is www.norgine.com

    About Phynova
    Phynova is a UK-based, AIM-listed company developing botanical drugs for the treatment of diseases with a major unmet medical need.

    Phynova's lead drug is PYN 17, for the treatment of the symptoms of chronic hepatitis C. It completed a Phase I/II multi-centre study in
late 2007 and a Phase II clinical proof of concept trial is planned. The market for treatment of chronic hepatitis C is predicted to grow
from around $2.5 billion in 2006 to nearly $10 billion by 2015.

    PYN 22 is in late preclinical development for the treatment of the growing problem of the condition known as Non Alcoholic Fatty Liver
Disease ("NAFLD"), where fat accumulates in the liver and can lead to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. There are no specific drugs
for NAFLD which is currently treated using advice on lifestyle and dietary change.

    PYN 9 is in development for post-operative ileus ("POI") which is a temporary impairment of gastrointestinal motility that is widely
seen after abdominal surgery and can lead to discomfort and prolonged hospital stay. A Chinese IND application has been filed by Phynova's
Partner in China, Botanic Century (Beijing) Ltd.

    PYN 6 is a botanical drug candidate that has shown promise in laboratory studies as an antibacterial against MRSA. The drug is currently
undergoing formulation as a potential topical treatment for MRSA. It is also active against the acne bacterium, P acnes.

    PYN 18, a novel antiviral agent, has been confirmed to have activity against the flaviviruses hepatitis C and dengue and is in
preclinical development.

    PYN 7, the cancer drug candidate, has shown promising activity against a range of cancer cells and its mode of action is currently being
defined.

    The Company has operations in the UK and China, including a 45 per cent. stake of Botanic Century Beijing Ltd., a specialist drug
development company based in Beijing.

    For more information, please visit www.phynova.com

    About Botanical Drugs
    Botanical drugs are extracts of plants that comprise polymolecular mixtures which simultaneously affect multiple pharmacological
targets.

    In 2004 the FDA addressed the regulation of botanical drugs by issuing its "Guidance for Industry: Botanical Drug Products"
(http://www.fda.gov/cder/guidance/4592fnl.htm.)

    Phynova believes that such a therapeutic approach will provide high clinical efficacy that will offer advantages over traditional single
compound based therapies. Phynova believes botanical drugs offer an extremely cost effective way to bring new drug candidates forward for
clinical study.

    There are around 200 INDs open for botanical drug candidates in the US and in 2006 the FDA approved the first botanical drug (Medigene's
'Veregen' for the treatment of papillomavirus warts).

This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
 
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