CAMBRIDGE, U.K., Dec. 11, 2001 (PRIMEZONE) -- CeNeS Pharmaceuticals plc (LSE:CEN) announced today that it had exchanged contracts to assign its head office lease at Compass House, Cambridge to De Novo Pharmaceuticals Limited.
Under the terms of the agreement, De Novo Pharmaceuticals will take over the head lease and pay CeNeS 600,000 pounds for certain laboratory equipment and leasehold improvements that are no longer required by the restructured CeNeS operations. CeNeS will also receive 516,000 pounds that was previously held on deposit as security for the annual rent. The assignment is subject to final landlord's approval, which has been already given in principle. Concurrently, CeNeS will take a smaller sub-lease for office space from De Novo Pharmaceuticals.
Commenting, Neil Clark, Chief Operating Officer of CeNeS Pharmaceuticals plc, said: "We are pleased to have reached this agreement with De Novo Pharmaceuticals which is in line with our strategy to reduce cash burn and costs. Since announcing the restructuring in October we have focused on our core business and have streamlined operations and we will continue to evaluate further options. We have taken a number of difficult decisions to ensure that CeNeS is best placed to generate shareholder value going forward and we will continue to update shareholders as the restructuring plan proceeds."
Commenting, David Bailey, Chief Executive Officer of De Novo Pharmaceuticals, said: "Following our recent fundraising, De Novo Pharmaceuticals is entering an exciting period of expansion and is pleased to be able to move speedily into new premises that will permit the establishment of our biology and chemistry capabilities on one site. We expect to announce further commercial progress in 2002."
CeNeS is a biopharmaceutical company specializing in the development and commercialization of drugs for CNS disorders and pain control. The company currently markets four products, and has research and development assets targeting pain, stroke, schizophrenia, addiction, sleep disorders, Parkinson's disease and multiple sclerosis. CeNeS also has a cognitive division, which markets CANTAB, a computerized cognitive test. In addition it has a range of platform technologies including AutoPatch(TM) its unique automated patch clamping technology. The group is based in Cambridge, England.
De Novo Pharmaceuticals Limited is a private company based in Cambridge UK. It uses its proprietary computational software for drug design to create novel, patentable lead molecules as candidates for drug development against both enzyme and receptor based targets. De Novo's proprietary algorithms can convert ligand information or protein structure information in combination with medicinal chemistry rapidly into new chemical designs, maximizing value within a pharmaceutical partner's research portfolio. In addition, De Novo applies its leading in silico drug discovery capabilities to its own in-house research programs, generating high value lead candidates available for licensing. For more information about De Novo, their technology and how they work with their partners please visit the website at www.denovopharma.com.
If you have any questions please contact Noonan Russo on +44 (0) 20 7726 4452.