ERX Eirx Therap.

RNS Number:2749X
EiRx Therapeutics PLC
25 May 2007


For immediate release                                                25 May 2007

                             EIRX THERAPEUTICS PLC
                           ("EiRx" or "the Company")

          Regains rights to apoptosis targets from OSI Pharmaceuticals

Cork, Ireland - EiRx Therapeutics plc (AIM: ERX), the drug discovery company
developing targeted therapies for cancer, announces the termination of its
apoptosis target licensing agreement with OSI Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ("OSI").  As
first announced in May 2004, EiRx and OSI entered into a license agreement under
which EiRx granted rights to four kinase targets identified in the course of
EiRx's research into the cellular regulatory mechanisms governing apoptosis.

OSI has informed EiRx that, as a result of the evolving focus of OSI's internal
research and development programme, it has decided to discontinue the license
agreement.  As a gesture of good will and in recognition of the potential
importance of the Company's targets to the apoptosis therapeutics field, OSI has
elected to return to EiRx without encumbrance all apoptosis target rights
acquired in the 2004 license.

EiRx's apoptosis target panel, discovered by the Company's ALIBI(TM) genomics
platform, includes more than 50 enzymes of classes considered amenable to
industry-standard drug discovery techniques, such as kinases.  In recent years
the Company has moved its business strategy away from simple target licensing to
focus on in-house drug discovery against its apoptosis targets by means of the
Engineered Pathway Dependence ("EnPAD(TM)") technology platform.  This strategic
shift is intended to give the Company greater control over the progression of
drug discovery programmes against its apoptosis targets and EiRx will continue
to concentrate its efforts and resources on the EnPAD(TM) platform.

Colin Telfer Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of EiRx, said: "Whilst we are
disappointed not to have seen this collaboration flourish and the targets we
licensed to OSI developed as the basis of new therapeutic candidates, we do
appreciate OSI's generous gesture in returning to us the previously licensed
rights.  We understand that OSI's decision was a strategic one and not a
reflection of the quality of the science licensed from EiRx.  These four kinases
rejoin the panel of apoptosis targets currently subject to collaborative
discussions with other parties."

For further information, please contact:

EiRx Therapeutics plc                                    +353 (0)21 432 0847
Colin Telfer PhD, Chief Executive Officer

Grant Thornton Corporate Finance                         +44 (0)20 7383 5100
Philip Secrett / Colin Aaronson

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


ENDS


Notes for Editors:

About EiRx

EiRx Therapeutics (AIM: ERX) is a research-driven healthcare company developing
new targeted therapies for the treatment of cancer.  EiRx is headquartered in
Cork, Ireland, conducts drug discovery from its laboratories in Cork and in
Aberdeen, Scotland, and has an initial focus on tumours arising due to anomalous
GSK/Wnt signalling, with particular relation to breast and colorectal tumours.

Since its foundation in 1999 EiRx has developed into a leader in the study of
functional pathways critical to cancer cell survival and growth, with a research
base encompassing apoptosis biology, translational medicine and the metabolic
basis of drug resistance in tumours.  Using its state-of-the-art, proprietary
ALIBI(TM) platform, EiRx has gained new insights into the mechanisms underlying
a cell's decision to survive or die, and has implicated a range of novel genes
in pivotal control mechanisms such as the PI3K/AKT and GSK/Wnt survival
pathways.  In combining functional validation technologies with unique clinical
resources such as the ACCRI-BANK tissue collection, EiRx is linking the
molecular activity of these targets with clinical consequences in patient
populations.  By streaming validated targets into an innovative compound
screening approach EiRx is creating a product development engine specialising in
cancer target discovery, validation and targeted therapy.

Notable milestones in 2006/7 include:

Development of the EnPAD(TM) drug screening technology to enable identification 
of compounds that specifically target cell survival pathways.

Filing of patent applications on first series of potential anti-cancer compounds
identified using EnPAD(TM), which target the b-catenin signalling pathway to
selectively kill colorectal and breast cancer cells in vitro.

Collaborative research agreement with international diagnostics major bioMerieux
SA.

A total of #2.2M raised by issue of new shares, comprising three placements of
#1.2M, #0.5M and #0.5M on 31st March 2006, 21st September 2006 and 4th January
2007 respectively.


For more information visit www.eirx.com


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