Melbourne, May 8, 2007 AEST (ABN Newswire) - The Board of Solagran Limited (ASX: SLA) is pleased to announce that two Directors, Dr Vagif Soultanov and Mr Charles Pellegrino, will depart today for a month in Russia and Hungary to lock in a number of initiatives that will be key to the next stage of Solagran's strategic development.
Dr Soultanov and Mr Pellegrino currently have nearly 60 meetings scheduled in Budapest (11), St Petersburg (27), Moscow (11) and Tomsk/ Novosibirsk (10) with senior representatives from the academic community, the medical profession, current and potential strategic partners, as well as key decision-makers from government health and regulatory authorities. Because of the likely impact of the use of Bioeffectives(R) on both the health of the population and the health budgets of different regions throughout Russia, they also plan to meet with the Governors of St Petersburg and Novosibirsk.
The meetings can be classified into five broad categories:
- Delivery of lectures and conference participation,
- Meetings with institutions conducting clinical trials for Solagran,
- Discussions with current and potential strategic partners,
- Discussions with health authorities from both Russia and the Baltic States (Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania) to enable finalisation of plans for production facilities, and
- Planning meetings in relation to future clinical trials.
Lectures and Conference Participation
Dr Soultanov will be delivering a number of lectures at the Mechnikov State Medical Academy in St Petersburg, as well as presenting papers at a major gastroenterology conference - including a presentation of the results of Ropren clinical trials completed in 2004 which will be released simultaneously to the market in Australia.
Meetings in Relation to Clinical Trials Program
An extensive series of meetings is planned in relation to Solagran's ongoing clinical trials program. Some of these include:
- Meetings with the research team at the Skvortsova-Stepanova hospital where Solagran's Alzheimer's and chronic alcoholics trials have been undertaken, to finalise methodological guidelines for clinicians relating to the use of Bioeffectives(R) A and R in the treatment of conditions associated with chronic alcoholism and drug addiction;
- Meetings with senior staff from the Institute of Toxicology in relation to trials being undertaken with innovative delivery mechanisms for Ropren (including a liposomal format) together with discussions in relation to a potential pharmacokinetic study with Bioeffective(R) A using a specifically incorporated radioactive isotope;
- Discussions with senior pharmacologists from the St Petersburg State Chemical Pharmaceutical Academy, together with Sergei Zhivolupov, the Professor of Neurology at the Kirov Military Medical Academy, in relation to trials programs planned for liposomal and injectable formats for Bioeffective(R) R, particularly for the treatment of serious brain damage;
- Discussions with senior microbiologists from the Mechnikov State Medical Academy in relation to the completion of a peer reviewed journal article covering the anti-microbial properties of Bioeffective(R) A, its ability to inhibit the growth and the reproduction of Methicillin resistant strains, and its potential use in both systemic and topical medicines (and particularly for the treatment of infected burns and wounds); and
- Meetings with the Pasteur Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology which has just completed an important investigation into the ability of Bioeffective(R) A to inhibit the growth and reproduction of Helicobacter pylori. Professor Anatoly Zhebrun, the Director of the Pasteur Institute, has been invited to come to Australia in the near future to discuss joint H.pylori trials involving Australian and Russian institutions - as well as to conduct lectures and to work with Solagran on a number of other initiatives.
Meetings with Current and Potential Strategic Partners
A number of meetings are scheduled with current strategic partners in Russia, and potential commercial partners in Hungary and the Baltic States - with particular emphasis on distribution arrangements for both Ropren and Bioeffective(R) A. Discussions with Health Authorities and Finalisation of Plans for Production Facilities
SibEX has already made significant progress in Tomsk in installing the processing facilities that will be required to obtain Bioeffectives(R) using Solagran's patented technology, as well as in adapting SibEX's existing liquid CO2 extraction technology, which will be further developed under Solagran's control.
Solagran believes it has a sound understanding of the likely demand for Ropren in Russia over the next few years. However this understanding will be confirmed in discussions with senior representatives of the Ministry of Health after the reaction of gastroenterologists has been gauged at the conference in St Petersburg. Once the expected demand has been re-calibrated, Solagran will act to ensure that the appropriate capacity is in place at the SibEX facility in Tomsk and at the existing facility in Lisino. It will also ensure that there is an ability to scale up production quickly if demand from Russia exceeds expectations; if CIS countries move to embrace Ropren; or if demand for Bioeffective(R) A builds more rapidly than expected in either Russia or Australia.
Planning Meetings in Relation to Future Clinical Trials
Solagran has plans for a whole new series of clinical trials in relation to conditions including: prostate cancer (Bioeffective(R) B); Trichomonias vaginalis (Bioeffective(R) A); brain damage resulting from severe head trauma, ischemic heart failure or stroke (injectable Bioeffective(R) R); and bird flu (Ropren). A longer list of the meetings planned just for St Petersburg is provided in the attachment. For commercial reasons, none of the more sensitive meetings have been included in this list.
The Directors believe this trip has great significance for the Company. It will coincide with the expected regulatory approval of Ropren - the first Russian developed pharmaceutical to be registered in Russia for some 20 years. It will also showcase Ropren at a time when there is an explosion in the incidence of liver disease - not just in Russia but throughout the world.
Contact
Peter Stedwell
Company Secretary
On behalf of the Board of Directors
Solagran Limited
+61 3 9820 2699
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