Sareum to Present at BioTrinity 2020

Sareum Holdings plc (AIM:SAR), the specialist small molecule drug development business, announces that its CEO, Dr Tim Mitchell, will give a Company presentation at BioTrinity 2020, which will be delivered digitally from 28 April to 1 May 2020.

The presentation will provide an update of Sareum’s two proprietary TYK2/JAK1 kinase inhibitor programmes, SDC-1801 and SDC-1802, targeting autoimmune diseases and cancers, respectively. Dr Mitchell will also highlight the emerging potential of this mechanism to modulate the severe inflammatory responses and respiratory symptoms arising from coronavirus and other viral infections.

Key cytokines that are found elevated in Covid-19 patients that have been admitted to intensive care include IL-2, IL-7, IL-10 and G-CSF*, all of which signal via JAK-family kinases. As the Company noted in its half yearly report, a paper in the European Respiratory Journal published in 2017** suggested that TYK2 inhibition might be effective in the treatment of influenza driven secondary bacterial pneumonia, which is potentially highly relevant against the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Company also notes that it is preparing grant applications to fund studies to assess the potential use of its TYK2/JAK1 inhibitors to address this threat to global public health.

The presentation will be made through the BioTrinity virtual portal and will be available to registered participants during the conference and until at least 9 May 2020 - https://biotrinity.com/showcase. 

A copy of the presentation will also be made available on Sareum’s website - www.sareum.co.uk. 

BioTrinity is a long-running and highly regarded life sciences conference.  It focuses on partnering, investment and collaboration, with the core delegate mix including early-stage and emerging biotech, medtech and digital health companies, big pharma executives and life sciences investors.

All aspects of the BioTrinity 2020 conference will be delivered in a digital format.

*C Huang et al. Clinical features of patients infected with 2019 novel coronavirus in Wuhan, China (2020) Lancet 395(10223) 497-606)

**J Berg et al. TYK2 as a target for immune regulation in human viral/bacterial pneumonia. (2017) European Respiratory Journal 50: 1601953

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation 596/2014

For further information, please contact: 

Sareum Holdings plc

Tim Mitchell, CEO                                                            01223 497 700

Strand Hanson Limited (Nominated Adviser)

James Dance / Richard Tulloch                                    020 7409 3494

Hybridan LLP (Nominated Broker)

Claire Noyce / John Beresford-Peirse                      020 3764 2341

Citigate Dewe Rogerson (Financial PR)

Mark Swallow/ David Dible                                          020 7638 9571

About Sareum

Sareum is a specialist drug development company delivering targeted small molecule therapeutics to improve the treatment of cancer and autoimmune disease. The Company aims to generate value through licensing its candidates to international pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies at the preclinical or early clinical trials stage.

Sareum is advancing internal programmes focused on distinct dual tyrosine kinase 2 (TYK2) / Janus kinase 1 (JAK1) inhibitors through preclinical development as therapies for autoimmune diseases (SDC-1801) and cancers (SDC-1802). The Company is targeting completion of preclinical development for each molecule in 2020.

The Company’s preclinical FLT3+Aurora inhibitor programme targeting haematological cancers is licensed to a China-based specialty pharma company.

Sareum also has an economic interest in SRA737, a clinical-stage oral, selective Checkpoint kinase 1 (Chk1) inhibitor that targets cancer cell replication and DNA damage repair mechanisms. Preliminary data suggest SRA737 may have broad application in combination with other oncology and immune-oncology drugs in genetically defined patients.

SRA737 was discovered and initially developed by scientists at The Institute of Cancer Research in collaboration with Sareum, and with funding from Sareum and Cancer Research UK. SRA737 was licensed by CRT Pioneer Fund (CPF) to Sierra Oncology Inc., which is currently seeking to on-license SRA737 to a third party for further development.

Sareum Holdings plc is listed on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange, trading under the ticker SAR. For further information, please visit the Company’s website at www.sareum.co.uk.