CYX Cytomyx Hldgs

RNS Number:3085K
Cytomyx Holdings PLC
30 March 2005


For immediate release                                              30 March 2005



                              CYTOMYX HOLDINGS PLC

                          ("Cytomyx" or "the Company")


   Cytomyx acquires the biorepository business of US-based Ardais Corporation



Cytomyx Holdings plc (AIM: CYX.L), a leading provider of drug discovery products
and services, is pleased to announce that it has acquired the biorepository
business of US-based Ardais Corporation ("Ardais"), of Lexington, Massachusetts,
for an initial purchase price of $3.0 million. The acquisition is complementary
to Cytomyx' existing US biorepository business and brings significant strategic,
operational and financial benefits to the Company.


As part of the transaction, Cytomyx has entered into a strategic collaboration
with Ardais, a software systems and services company, under which Cytomyx will
gain access to the Ardais System, a web-searchable biospecimen management
system.


Highlights of the acquisition


  * Cytomyx has acquired the biorepository business and assets of Ardais
    Corporation through the purchase of the entire issued Ordinary Share Capital
    of a newly incorporated subsidiary of Ardais known as Biorepository Business
    LLC ("Biorepository Business") for an initial purchase price of $3,000,000,
    satisfied in cash.


  * The Biorepository Business, which is highly regarded within the
    pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, includes a high quality and
    diverse collection of human tissue samples with linked clinical information.
    The repository includes more than 130,000 tissue samples, primarily from
    cancer patients. In addition the Biorepository Business offers tissue
    microarray and molecular derivative products and immunohistochemistry
    services, expanding the Company's position in the global Pharmaceutical
    Research Services sector.


  * The Biorepository Business had unaudited revenues of $3.739 million in
    2004, up from $3.553 million in 2003.


  * The Biorepository Business operates from a modern laboratory facility in
    Lexington, Massachusetts. Lexington is close to Boston, where many
    pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies base their R&D activities.


  * To fund the acquisition the Company has entered into a three year secured
    convertible loan agreement with Laurus Master Fund, Ltd ("Laurus"), pursuant
    to which Laurus has made available $3,300,000, which is convertible in whole
    or in part into Cytomyx shares at any time up until 28 March 2008, subject
    to certain restrictions, at the lower price of 17 pence per share or 125 per
    cent of the then market value. As part of the financing arrangements,
    Cytomyx has also conditionally agreed to grant an option to Laurus
    exercisable over 4,630,170 shares at an exercise price of 24 pence per
    share.



Benefits to Cytomyx


  * The acquisition of the Biorepository Business significantly strengthens
    Cytomyx' position in the translational medicine services market sector, in
    which pharmaceutical researchers use human biomaterials to validate new drug
    targets and to provide a deeper understanding of the effectiveness of drugs
    in clinical trials.


  * Acquisition synergies will include the Company relocating its current
    facility in Albany, New York, along with key personnel, to the Lexington
    facility, a location that brings the Company close to a pool of suitably
    qualified potential employees.


  * As part of the transaction, the Company will gain access to the Ardais
    System, a web-searchable biospecimen management system. This is expected to
    be of significant commercial benefit to the Company's current and future
    operations.



Mike Kerins, Chief Executive of Cytomyx, commented: "We are very pleased to
acquire Ardais' biorepository assets because of the quality and scale of its
human tissue biospecimens, its complementary base of pharmaceutical clients, and
because of the strategic and operational benefits to Cytomyx.  This acquisition
is an ideal fit with our existing US biorepository business and builds our
strategic position in the high value translational medicine market."


Donald B. Hawthorne, President and CEO of Ardais Corporation, said:  "The Ardais
System in combination with Cytomyx' unique product and services offerings create
a powerful translational medicine resource. We are proud to have Cytomyx as a
partner and as a commercial customer of the Ardais System, which is now helping
a number of research enterprises to manage their own repositories with proven
protocols, software applications and data standards."

For further information, please contact:


Cytomyx Holdings plc                                        +44 (0) 1223 508191
Mike Kerins, Chief Executive

Buchanan Communications                                     +44 (0) 20 7466 5000
Mark Court/Mary-Jane Johnson

The Wall Street Group                                       +1 212 888 4848
Ron Stabiner




Notes for editors


About Cytomyx Holdings plc

Cytomyx Holdings plc is a rapidly growing life science company based in
Cambridge, UK. The Company's primary focus is on developing novel technologies
that assist pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies in their efforts to
develop new treatments more effectively. This it does by providing solutions
that provide early insights into the likely efficacy and safety profile of new
drugs in development. The Company has two main areas of expertise: the use of
human clinical samples in understanding the linkage between gene expression and
disease and the development of cell-based assays that are used to predict
potential toxicity in new drugs.  Cytomyx is listed on the AIM market of the
London Stock Exchange (CYX.L). For more information visit
www.cytomyx-holdings.com


About Ardais Corporation

Ardais Corporation addresses all of the challenges of biospecimen collection,
management, and distribution, allowing researchers to focus solely on the
research discoveries and clinical developments that will advance translational
medicine.  As a pioneer in best practices for this field, Ardais has developed
the Ardais System, a comprehensive solution that enables academic and commercial
scientists and clinicians to standardize their biospecimen collections and
efficiently manage their biorepositories, thereby enhancing and accelerating
research and clinical development.


The Ardais System, encompassing biological, informatics and engineering
expertise, is a suite of software applications, operating procedures,
proprietary supplies, and data standards that integrate clients' biorepository
operations at one or multiple geographic sites. For more information, visit:
www.ardais.com.


About translational medicine

Translational medicine is the term for the transfer of laboratory results into
new ways of diagnosing and treating patients. One approach of translational
medicine is to use human tissue and associated clinical data to link genes and
proteins to relevant human diseases.  Translational medicine is the essential
loop from lab bench to bedside, where theories emerging from pre-clinical
studies are tested on disease-affected human subjects, and from bedside to lab
bench, where information obtained from preliminary human studies can be used to
refine our understanding of the biological principles underpinning human disease
and enable the discovery of disease specific biomarkers.  This strategy is
underpinning drug development programmes world-wide, therefore allowing
pharmaceutical companies to develop more efficient medicines for human diseases.



                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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