CellCentric initiates new collaboration to accelerate its cancer drug discovery programme

Cambridge, UK 1st November 2005… CellCentric, a leading company in the exploitation of epigenetics, announces that it has formed a research collaboration with Professor Chris Boshoff of the Wolfson Institute of Biomedical Research, University College London. The sponsored programme will explore epigenetic-related cancer cell targets, linking CellCentric’s core technologies to human cell models of the disease. The collaboration will accelerate CellCentric’s discovery of novel treatments for cancer, and ultimately the delivery of breakthrough therapeutics.

Chris Boshoff is Professor of Cancer Medicine at the Wolfson Institute. He is Co-Director of Cancer Research UK’s Viral Oncology Group and Chairman of the Wellcome Trust’s Functional Genomics Initiative on Stem Cells. Earlier this year Professor Boshoff received the Entente Cordial Cancer Prize awarded by Madame Chirac and Mrs Blair for his pioneering research.

Commenting on the news, Dr Will West, CellCentric’s COO said: “This new relationship with Professor Boshoff is a significant step forward in improving our understanding of epigenetic processes in cancer. We are delighted to have the opportunity to work with someone of Professor Boshoff‘s calibre and feel it demonstrates the increasing confidence in the potential of CellCentric’s epigenetics discovery base. It adds to our work with Cancer Research Technology and the Babraham Institute to identify and validate epigenetic cancer targets.”

Further information
At CellCentric:

Will West, 01954 213 498/ 07909 547 950/ will.west@cellcentric.co.uk

Media Enquiries:

Rowan Minnion, 020 7886 8150/ r.minnion@northbankcommunications.com 

Notes to editors

About CellCentric Ltd. www.cellcentric.co.uk 

CellCentric Ltd. is a biotechnology company focused on the commercial exploitation of epigenetics and mechanisms that determine cell fate. The company was founded in May 2004 with initial funding from Avlar BioVentures and Providence Investment Trust and subsequently from The Rainbow Seed Fund and the National Endowment for Science Technology and the Arts (NESTA). The company is based upon the world leading research of Prof Azim Surani FRS at the Gurdon Institute, University of Cambridge.

CellCentric has a research and intellectual property pipeline agreement with the Babraham Institute, one of the largest concentrations of researchers in epigenetics, and has more recently initiated its first anti-cancer target validation and therapeutic development programme with Cancer Research Technology Ltd. The company is also generating tools for cell growth and bioprocessing applications.

Epigenetics

Epigenetics is the study of the functional groups that sit on top of genes and their associated proteins. The pattern, or imprint, of these functional groups is responsible for a cell’s specific function and fate. It determines which genes are made accessible to the cell’s machinery for reading and translation into proteins. The field of epigenetics is expected to radically change traditional approaches to treating diseases, including cancer and degenerative conditions.