Epistem Present at AACR Meeting in Denver

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Mon Apr 20, 2009 5:03am EDT 

  MANCHESTER, UNITED KINGDOM, Apr 20 (MARKET WIRE) -- 
Epistem plc (LSE: EHP), the UK biotechnology and contract research
company, have presented results from their latest plucked hair biomarker
study at the AACR Meeting in Denver, Colorado on Sunday 19th April. The
study was to determine the specific response to oral administration of
Erlotinib, the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitor, in a
plucked hair preclinical model. The data itself is impressive and
endorses the utility of the plucked hair model.

    In addition to tracking the gene expression and molecular pathway change
through the preclinical and clinical development of a drug, the Erlotinib
results open up the possibility for clinicians to monitor patient
specific gene responses to treatment, enabling an early indication that
the treatment will be successful. As this diagnostic procedure is
minimally invasive, patients will be able to undergo frequent testing to
confirm that the targeted gene expression changes are correlating with
the oncology treatment protocol being used therefore predictive of a
successful outcome.

    The results presented support the thesis that the plucked hair biomarker
platform provides a simple, minimally invasive means of monitoring the
specific response of epithelial tissue to oncology agents targeted to
discrete signaling pathways. This data has been generated using the
established oncology agent, Erlotinib, which is used widely to treat
advanced non small cell lung cancer and in combination for pancreatic
cancer. It is also being researched for other indications. Together with
previous human and preclinical results, this data showed that effective
levels of RNA can be obtained for gene expression measurement.

    The abstract will be available on request following the presentation.

    For further information on the Company, please visit www.epistem.co.uk.

Contacts:
Epistem plc
Lydia Meyer Turkson
Biomarker Director
+44 (0)161 606 7258
info@epistem.co.uk
www.epistem.co.uk

De Facto Communications
Mike Wort / Anna Dunphy
Financial PR/IR
+44 (0) 207 861 3838

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