Scientific founder of Intercept Pharmaceuticals joins Tiziana Life Sciences

Professor Roberto Pellicciari, Scientific founder of Intercept Pharmaceuticals

Professor Roberto Pellicciari, Scientific founder of Intercept Pharmaceuticals

Tiziana Life Sciences (AIM: TILS) (“Tiziana” or the “Company”), a UK biotechnology company with a focus on therapeutic and diagnostic applications for cancer, announces the appointment of Professor Roberto Pellicciari to the Company’s Scientific Advisory Board (“SAB”) and as a consultant to the Company.

Professor Pellicciari was the co-founder and remains Head of Medicinal Chemistry at Intercept Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq:ICPT) (“Intercept”), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialisation of novel bile acid therapeutics to treat chronic liver and intestinal diseases.  Intercept currently has a market capitalisation of approximately US$6.15 billion.

Professor Pellicciari is presently Professor of Medicinal Chemistry at the University of Perugia in Italy and has held a number of prestigious scientific posts.  He has been awarded several academic prizes, such as the “Domenico Marotta” prize of the “Accademia Nazionale delle Scienze” (1999), the “Mentzer” prize of the French “Société de Chimie Thérapeutique” (2001), the “Giacomello Medal” of the “Divisione di Chimica Farmaceutica (SCI)” (2006) and the “Amedeo Avogadro Medal” of the Italian Chemical Society (SCI) (2009).

He has also served on many national and international committees, including; Director of the Advanced School of Medicinal Chemistry of the Italian Chemical Society and President of the Division of Medicinal Chemistry of the Italian Chemical Society (2001-2003), and President of the European Federation of Medicinal Chemistry, EFMC (2006-2008).

Professor Pellicciari has an international reputation in molecular design, synthesis, mechanism of reaction, and modelling, with over 300 publications in international journals and 40 patents granted.

Tiziana, whose shares began trading on AIM in April following a reverse takeover of Alexander David Investments Plc, is developing novel therapeutics for cancer, with a focus on late-stage metastasis. The first of the Company’s programmes seeks to develop a drug for metastatic breast cancer, which affects up to 12,000 people annually in the UK.

Tiziana is founded on research at the European Cancer Stem Cell Research Institute in Cardiff, Wales. Scientists there have identified the BCL3 gene as a drug target to halt the spread of metastatic breast cancer to other parts of the body, potentially preventing the disease from becoming life-threatening. A study in mice has shown that suppressing the BCL3 gene inhibited the development of metastatic tumors.

The SAB now comprises Professor Pellicciari, Dr Napoleone Ferrara and Professor Pier Paolo di Fiore.

Professor Pellicciari said: “I consider it a great honour to join the ranks of the highly skilled scientists of the Tiziana’s Scientific Advisory Board.  I am convinced that the Company has great potential to become an important player in cancer research and I eagerly look forward to participating in the Board and helping take forward this exciting endeavour.”

Gabriele Cerrone, Chairman of Tiziana, said: “We are delighted to have attracted Professor Pellicciari to become a member of the SAB and a consultant to Tiziana.  He is, in my opinion, one of the most important medicinal chemists in the world and his accomplishments with companies such as Intercept and TES Pharma speak for themselves.  We believe that our collaboration with Professor Pellicciari will optimise the Company’s chemistry and drug development.”