Development update

 

TIDMMMG 
 
RNS Number : 2625O 
Medical Marketing Int'l Group PLC 
04 March 2009 
 

Development update 
 
 
4 March 2009 - Medical Marketing International Group plc ("MMI" or the 
"Company") (AIM:MMG), the life sciences company focused on the development of 
drugs for cancer, today announces the following update on the Company's cancer 
vaccines and ruthenium chemotherapies. 
 
 
Cancer vaccines 
The commercial prostate cancer vaccine ("GVX 3322") has completed the 
preclinical equivalence studies with the academic vaccine being used in the 
current clinical trial. The positive result obtained in this study allows the 
Company to continue its preparations for the commencement of a Phase II trial. 
 
 
Planning for the clinical development of GVX 3322 has continued and discussions 
with leading clinical oncologists are defining the key parameters for a prostate 
cancer trial. It is evident that the design of this trial will depend critically 
on the data from the current trial and, in particular, on the PSA-response rate 
that is observed. The Company is in discussions with the University of 
Southampton and Cancer Research Technology to obtain these data. 
 
 
Ruthenium chemotherapies 
The ruthenium compound ONCO 4417 has been investigated in a number of 
pre-clinical studies to enhance our understanding of the mechanism of action by 
which it kills cancer cells. These studies show that ONCO 4417 induces DNA 
damage to levels comparable with that of cisplatin and suggest that the induced 
DNA damage may directly or indirectly result in apoptosis (programmed cell 
death). In addition, as ONCO 4417 does not appear to share cross-resistance 
mechanisms with cisplatin, it is likely that damage induced by ONCO 4417 is not 
resolved in the same way as that induced by cisplatin and therefore, may provide 
novel cancer targets for our ruthenium compounds. A summary of this work has 
been approved for a poster presentation at the American Association of Cancer 
Research Annual Meeting on 18-22 April 2009 in Denver, Colorado. 
 
 
We continue to focus on investigating the mechanisms responsible for repair of 
ONCO 4417 induced damage and on evaluating the compound in xenograft models. The 
findings will be used to target our ruthenium compounds to cancers where the 
drug will have most effect and to investigate the combination of ONCO 4417 with 
other drug agents. We also continue to evaluate the second generation compounds, 
prepared using a targeted synthesis approach, which have now demonstrated good 
in vitro efficacy across our panel of human tumour cells. 
 
 
 
 
Enquiries: 
 
 
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| Medical Marketing International Group   |                                         | 
| plc                                     |                                         | 
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| Phil Cartmell, Non-executive Chairman   | Tel: [phone]               | 
| Mark Burton, Chief Technical Officer    |                                         | 
| Rob Sprawson, Chief Financial Officer   |                                         | 
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|                                         |                                         | 
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| FinnCap                                 |                                         | 
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| Sam Smith/Charlie Cunningham            | Tel: [phone]                | 
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|                                         |                                         | 
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| Financial Dynamics                      |                                         | 
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| David Yates/Emma Thompson               | Tel: [phone]                | 
+-----------------------------------------+-----------------------------------------+ 
 
 
About MMI 
Medical Marketing International Group plc ("MMI") is a life sciences company 
that identifies, acquires and develops world-class compounds and technologies 
for the treatment of cancer. The Company manages the preclinical and early 
clinical development of drug candidates before pursuing licensing partners to 
manage late-stage development. Please visit www.mmigroup.co.uk for further 
information. 
 
 
Notwithstanding the inclusion on this release by MMI of a website address and/or 
another electronic address, MMI does not accept any notices or any other 
documents or communication via its website or other electronic address. All such 
notices, documents or communication shall be in hard copy format only. 
Accordingly the provisions of section 333 Companies Act 2006 allowing persons to 
communicate with MMI electronically shall not apply to MMI. 
 
This information is provided by RNS 
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange 
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