Antisoma announces discontinuation of development of AS1402

LONDON and CAMBRIDGE, MA--(Marketwire - August 7, 2009) - Antisoma plc ASM today announces that the phase II trial of AS1402 in breast cancer is to be discontinued. This follows a meeting of the trial's Data Monitoring Committee (DMC) and a subsequent review of the data, which led the company to conclude that the trial would be very unlikely to give sufficiently positive efficacy findings. No safety concerns were identified. Antisoma has no plans for further studies of AS1402.

Glyn Edwards, Antisoma's CEO, said "While AS1402 was an early stage product and therefore not an important contributor to our overall value, we are of course disappointed that the drug was not able to provide benefit to breast cancer patients."

About AS1402

AS1402 (huHMFG1, previously known also as R1550 and Therex) is a humanised antibody against a form of MUC1 found on the surface of various cancers. This study was a 110-patient phase II trial in women receiving first-line treatment for advanced breast cancer. Patients were randomised to receive either AS1402 plus the hormone therapy letrozole or letrozole alone. Letrozole will continue to be made available to patients. AS1402 was licensed by Antisoma from the Imperial Cancer Research Technologies, the technology transfer arm of the Imperial Cancer Research Fund (now Cancer Research UK).

About Antisoma

Antisoma is a London Stock Exchange-listed biopharmaceutical company that develops novel products for the treatment of cancer. The Company has operations in the UK and the US. Please visit www.antisoma.com for further information about Antisoma.

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