Summit Establishes US Office and Strengthens its Drug Development Team

Summit Corporation plc
('Summit' or the 'Company')

SUMMIT ESTABLISHES US OFFICE IN CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS AND STRENGTHENS ITS DRUG DEVELOPMENT OPERATIONS TEAM

Oxford, UK, 17 June 2014 - Summit (AIM: SUMM), a drug discovery and development company advancing therapies for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy ('DMD') and C. difficile infection ('CDI'), announces it has established US operations in Cambridge, Massachusetts and strengthened its drug development operations team following the recruitment of new clinical and preclinical employees.  The US operations are being formed to facilitate greater interactions with academic, clinical and business leaders in Summit's areas of therapeutic development.

Located at the new US office will be key members of the clinical development team: Dr Michael Boss, the overall leader of the utrophin modulation programme for DMD, and Dr Bindu Tejura who recently joined Summit as Vice President of Clinical Development and will be involved in both the DMD and CDI programmes.

"Summit's expansion to the US supports our strategy to continue to strengthen the investor base and allows for greater access to academic and industry key opinion leaders in North America, in order to advance our clinical programmes that will have a significant proportion of their development undertaken there," commented Glyn Edwards, Chief Executive Officer of Summit.  "With our DMD and CDI programmes reaching key inflection points, it is important that we continue to strengthen the team supporting their development."

The operations and undertaking in the US will be conducted through a wholly owned subsidiary company, Summit Therapeutics Inc., which is incorporated in Delaware.

About Dr Michael Boss
Dr Michael Boss is a senior executive with broad operating experience in the biotechnology industry that includes biomedical product development, business development, identification and licensing of new technologies, intellectual property and project management.   During his career, Dr Boss has held a number of positions including Chief Operating Officer and Chief Business Officer at the cancer and autoimmune biotechnology company Xanthus Pharmaceuticals Inc.  At Xanthus he led a number of activities including the successful sale of the company to Antisoma, after which he continued to lead the autoimmune business.  Dr Boss has experience of DMD and disease biomarkers from his time as Vice President of R&D and Vice President of Operations at Athena Diagnostics Inc. which developed the first test for DMD, along with the development of tests for many genetic and neurological diseases.  Earlier in his career at Celltech Ltd he was the lead investigator on a landmark patent that enabled for the first time the genetic engineering and manufacture of recombinant monoclonal antibodies.  Dr Boss holds a PhD in immunology (University of London), an MBA (London Business School) and he completed his postdoctoral fellowship with the Nobel Laureate Dr David Baltimore (Massachusetts Institute of Technology).

About Dr Bindu Tejura
Dr Bindu Tejura is a Medical Director and Clinical Research Investigator with over 10 years of experience in the development of new drugs and has an excellent understanding of drug development.  She has been responsible for the design and interpretation of many Phase 1 and 2 clinical trials as well as several large Phase 3 studies.  Prior to joining Summit, Dr Tejura was Medical Director at Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc. where she gained broad clinical experience including being lead clinician on a large Phase 3 oncology study.  She has held a number of previous roles at Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Dyax Inc. and Antisoma plc.  Dr Tejura is a qualified clinician having undertaken her medical training at a number of hospitals and medical centres in the UK and the US.  She holds a Bachelor of Medicine degree as well as a Bachelor of Pharmacology degree from the University of Wales, College of Medicine (Cardiff).

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Notes to Editors

About Summit
Summit is an Oxford, UK based drug discovery and development company targeting high-value areas of unmet medical need including Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy and C. difficile infection.  Summit is quoted on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange and trades under the ticker symbol SUMM. Further information is available at www.summitplc.com and Summit can be followed on Twitter (@summitplc).

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Forward Looking Statements
This announcement contains "forward-looking statements", including, but not limited to, statements about the discovery, development and commercialisation of programme assets. These forward-looking statements are statements based on the Company's current intentions, beliefs and expectations, which include, among other things, the Company's results of operations, financial condition, prospects, growth, strategies and the industry in which the Company operates. No forward-looking statement is a guarantee of future performance and actual results could differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements or information.  Forward-looking statements and information by their nature involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause actual results, performance or achievements, or industry results, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or information. These include but are not limited to: adverse results in clinical or preclinical development studies; delays in obtaining regulatory approval; failure to obtain patent protection for inventions; commercial limitations imposed by patents owned or controlled by third parties; being unable to secure partnership agreements to develop and commercialise programme assets; being unable to secure the necessary funding to conduct any proposed research and development studies; and the ability to retain and recruit key personnel.  The Company expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statement contained in this announcement to reflect any changes in expectations with regard thereto or any changes in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based, except as required by applicable law.