U.S. Patent Granted for Cyclacel's Penetratin®

DUNDEE - 2 July 1999 - Cyclacel Limited, the UK-based cancer therapeutics company, announced today the issuance of a United States Patent (Number 5,888,762) claiming the composition of matter known as Penetratin®, a versatile, endonuclear drug delivery technology. Penetratin is a benign biological substance with remarkable properties as it can transport drugs to the core of cells where they can exert their therapeutic effect. It is the subject of considerable further development at Cyclacel and additional patent applications have been filed. Penetratin is the core technology employed by Cyclacel in its CYC300 cancer drug-Penetratin conjugate programme.

Spiro Rombotis, Cyclacel's Chief Executive, commented: "This is an important milestone for the commercial exploitation of this powerful delivery system inside and outside Cyclacel. Internally we have obtained promising results with therapeutic applications of Penetratin in our CYC300 cancer drug discovery programme. We will be reporting on these results in the near future. Externally a large number of industrial and academic groups have published work with Penetratin. Cyclacel is willing to assist these groups to commercially develop their applications by granting appropriate sub-licence rights. If the applications merit, Cyclacel would also be prepared to enter into collaborative agreements where the partner would benefit from our extensive knowledge and further development of the technology."

Cyclacel first obtained worldwide commercial rights to Penetratin from a French university two years ago. The licence fields include cancer and other therapeutic areas, including auto-immune, cardiovascular, dermatological and inflammatory diseases.