Summit Corporation PLC : Notification of Grant Award from UK Technology Strategy Board

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

SUMMIT NOTIFIED OF GRANT AWARD FROM UK TECHNOLOGY STRATEGY BOARD

• Award from the Biomedical Catalyst worth up to £150,000 and will support OGA inhibitor programme for the treatment of tauopathies 

Oxford, UK, 2 August 2012 - Summit (AIM: SUMM), a UK drug discovery company, has received notification from the Technology Strategy Board ('TSB') that it has been offered a grant worth up to £150,000 from the Biomedical Catalyst.  The grant will provide additional support for the development of the Company's OGA inhibitor programme for the treatment of a group of neurodegenerative diseases called tauopathies.  Receipt of the grant is conditional on a compliance review by the TSB and agreement of terms between both parties.

The Biomedical Catalyst was announced by the Prime Minister David Cameron in December 2011 as part of the UK Government's Life Sciences Strategy.  David Bott, Director of Innovation Programmes at the Technology Strategy Board, commented:  "We are delighted to make these first funding awards through the Biomedical Catalyst, which will help bridge the funding gap between the development of a new idea and investment by the market in a new drug or technology, and provide effective support for the best life science opportunities arising in the UK."

Glyn Edwards, Chief Executive Officer of Summit, added: "Summit's OGA inhibitor programme has the potential to treat patients suffering from tauopathies, a group of serious neurological disorders that includes Alzheimer's disease.  We are pleased to have been offered this financial support from the UK Government's Biomedical Catalyst to further support the development of this programme."

Notes to Editors

About Tauopathies
The tauopathies are a group of neurodegenerative diseases which includes Alzheimer's disease and a number of rare disorders such as Progressive Supranuclear Palsy and Frontotemporal Dementia.  
The tauopathies are characterised by the formation in the brain of neurofibrillary tangles ('NFTs') which contribute to the death of nerve cells in the brains of patients and arise due to the aggregation of abnormal hyper-phosphorylated tau protein.  The enzyme O-linked N-acetylglucosaminidase ('OGA') plays a role in the modulation of tau phosphorylation and its inhibition has the potential to prevent tau aggregation and thereby stop the NFTs from forming.

About the Technology Strategy Board
The Technology Strategy Board is the UK's innovation agency.  Its goal is to accelerate economic growth by stimulating and supporting business-led innovation.  Sponsored by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), the Technology Strategy Board brings together business, research and the public sector, supporting and accelerating the development of innovative products and services to meet market needs, tackle major societal challenges and help build the future economy. For more information please visit www.innovateuk.org.

About Summit
Summit is an Oxford, UK based drug discovery Company with a portfolio of drug programme assets and a drug discovery platform called Seglins(TM) technology.  Summit's programme portfolio consists of a number of drug programmes targeting high-value areas of unmet medical need including Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, C. difficile infection and a group of neurodegenerative diseases called tauopathies. Summit is listed on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange and trades under the ticker symbol SUMM. Further information is available at www.summitplc.com.

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