Summit Therapeutics Launches Online Resource for Patients with C. difficile Infection

Summit Therapeutics plc 
(‘Summit’ or the ‘Company’)

Summit Therapeutics Launches Online Resource for Patients with C. difficile Infection

Oxford, UK, and Cambridge, MA, US, 7 January 2020 – Summit Therapeutics plc (NASDAQ: SMMT, AIM: SUMM) today launched www.ricodify.com, an online resource for patients with C. difficile infection (‘CDI’) and their caregivers. The site provides information about CDI, the role of the microbiome in CDI and Summit’s ongoing Phase 3 clinical trials of its investigational precision antibiotic, ridinilazole.

“CDI is underserved by today’s available treatments, making it an urgent public health threat,” commented Mr Glyn Edwards, CEO of Summit. “With this online resource, we hope to provide those diagnosed with CDI and their caregivers with an understanding of factors pertinent to the choice of therapy, as well as information about the opportunity to be involved in our Ri-CoDIFy clinical trials evaluating ridinilazole for CDI.”

The Ri-CoDIFy clinical trials are expected to enrol up to 1360 patients across sites in North America, South America, Europe, Australia and Asia. Patients in the trial receive either ridinilazole or vancomycin, an antibiotic currently used to treat CDI, for ten days and are followed for a further 90 days to assess various efficacy and safety measures. For more information, visit www.ricodify.com.

About Ridinilazole
Ridinilazole is an investigational oral small molecule new mechanism antibiotic that is designed to selectively kill C. difficile, thereby preserving patients’ protective gut microbiome. In a Phase 2 proof of concept trial in CDI patients, ridinilazole showed statistical superiority in sustained clinical response ('SCR') rates. In that trial, SCR was defined as clinical cure at end of treatment and no recurrence of CDI within 30 days of the end of therapy. Ridinilazole was also shown to be highly preserving of the gut microbiome in the Phase 2 proof of concept trial. The gut microbiome is known to be important in protecting against CDI. Ridinilazole has received Qualified Infectious Disease Product ('QIDP') designation and has been granted Fast Track designation by the US Food and Drug Administration. The QIDP incentives are provided through the US GAIN Act and include a potential extension of marketing exclusivity for an additional five years upon FDA approval.

The clinical and regulatory development of ridinilazole is being funded in part with Federal funds from the US Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (‘BARDA’), under Contract No. HHS0100201700014C.

About C. difficile Infection
C. difficile infection is a serious healthcare threat in hospitals, long-term care homes and increasingly in the wider community with over one million estimated cases of CDI annually in the United States and Europe. CDI is caused by an infection of the colon by the bacterium C. difficile, which produces toxins that cause inflammation and severe diarrhoea, and in the most serious cases can be fatal. Patients typically develop CDI following the use of broad-spectrum antibiotics that can cause widespread damage to the natural gastrointestinal (gut) flora and allow overgrowth of C. difficile bacteria. The vast majority of patients are treated with broad-spectrum antibiotics, which cause further damage to the gut flora and are associated with high rates of recurrent disease. Reducing disease recurrence is the key clinical issue in CDI as repeat episodes are typically more severe and associated with an increase in mortality rates and healthcare costs. A study estimated that the total costs attributable to the management of CDI were approximately $6.3 billion per year in the United States. 

About Summit Therapeutics
Summit Therapeutics is a leader in antibiotic innovation. Our new mechanism antibiotics are designed to become the new standards of care for the benefit of patients and create value for payors and healthcare providers. We are currently developing new mechanism antibiotics for infections caused by C. difficile, N. gonorrhoeae and Enterobacteriaceae and are using our proprietary Discuva Platform to expand our pipeline. For more information, visit www.summitplc.com and follow us on Twitter @summitplc.

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Summit Forward-looking Statements

Any statements in this press release about the Company’s future expectations, plans and prospects, including but not limited to, statements about the clinical and preclinical development of the Company’s product candidates, the therapeutic potential of the Company’s product candidates, the potential commercialisation of the Company’s product candidates, the sufficiency of the Company’s cash resources, the timing of initiation, completion and availability of data from clinical trials, the potential submission of applications for marketing approvals and other statements containing the words "anticipate," "believe," "continue," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "plan," "potential," "predict," "project," "should," "target," "would," and similar expressions, constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors, including: the uncertainties inherent in the initiation of future clinical trials, availability and timing of data from ongoing and future clinical trials and the results of such trials, whether preliminary results from a clinical trial will be predictive of the final results of that trial or whether results of early clinical trials or preclinical studies will be indicative of the results of later clinical trials, expectations for regulatory approvals, laws and regulations affecting government contracts and funding awards, availability of funding sufficient for the Company’s foreseeable and unforeseeable operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements and other factors discussed in the "Risk Factors" section of filings that the Company makes with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Company’s Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended 31 January 2019. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements or information. In addition, any forward-looking statements included in this press release represent the Company’s views only as of the date of this release and should not be relied upon as representing the Company’s views as of any subsequent date. The Company specifically disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements included in this press release.

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