Clinical Collaboration

RNS Number:4864Y
Phoqus Group plc
18 June 2007




  Phoqus enters collaboration with US National Institutes of Health (NIH) for
          clinical development of ChronocortTM for endocrine disorders

West Malling, UK, 18 June 2007: Phoqus Group plc (AIM: PQS) ("Phoqus"), the oral
drug delivery and development company, announces that it has today signed a
formal Cooperative Research and Development Agreement ("CRADA") for the clinical
development of the Company's lead product, ChronocortTM, with the National
Institutes of Health (NIH), a major US federal government funded organisation
within the Department of Health and Human Services.

Phoqus, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, and the
Warren G. Magnuson Clinical Center at the NIH will be pursuing a collaborative
clinical programme to evaluate the clinical effectiveness of ChronocortTM for
therapeutic use in endocrine disorders normally requiring hydrocortisone
treatment. These disorders include adrenal insufficiency ("AI"), the failure of
the adrenal glands to produce sufficient steroid hormones, and congenital
adrenal hyperplasia ("CAH"), a serious genetic disorder leading to deficiency of
an enzyme responsible for cortisol production.

Phoqus and the NIH have agreed to conduct a series of clinical trials in the USA
, which forms a significant portion of the overall clinical programme required
for product registration in the USA and Europe.  The clinical studies will seek
to explore Chronocort's safety and efficacy profile, as well as determining the
optimal dosage regimen in adult and paediatric patients. The proposed clinical
studies are subject to final approval by the NIH Internal Review Board and the
Food and Drug Administration and are to be conducted at the NIH's main Bethesda,
Maryland campus. The studies are scheduled to start in August 2007.

ChronocortTM is a modified release tablet containing hydrocortisone that is
under development by Phoqus for both CAH and AI. The tablet utilises Phoqus'
QtrolTM technology to provide a delayed-and-sustained release profile of
hydrocortisone to mimic the natural over-night and early morning hormone levels
in healthy individuals, which is considered important in controlling disease
symptoms and reducing unwanted side effects. Current therapies do not provide
effective treatment because they can only be taken upon waking and do not,
therefore, provide the critical natural rise in overnight cortisol levels. In
addition, these therapies can be inconvenient and cause long term side effects.
By recreating the natural cortisol levels, Phoqus believes that ChronocortTM
should provide significant clinical benefit to both CAH and AI patients.
Independent market research has confirmed that ChronocortTM has the potential to
satisfy a significant unmet medical need and that both patients and doctors
alike would welcome the product.

Dr Richard Mason, CEO of Phoqus, said:

"We are delighted to be working with the NIH, one of the pre-eminent medical
research bodies in the world, to bring ChronocortTM through its development.
ChronocortTM is a major step forward in the treatment of glucocorticoid
deficiency and, as a first-in-class circadian steroid replacement therapy, has
the potential to deliver a real advance for patients with adrenal insufficiency
and congenital adrenal hyperplasia."

Enquiries:

Phoqus Group plc Tel: 01732 870227
Dr Richard Mason, CEO

Financial Dynamics Tel: 020 7831 3113
David Yates/John Gilbert

Notes to Editors

About Phoqus
Phoqus is an oral drug delivery and development company. It creates new
therapeutic products for both in-house and collaborative development programmes
using its proprietary electrostatic powder coating technology, LeQtracoat(R).
This technology provides Phoqus with an extensive range of innovative drug
delivery systems that are applied to pharmaceuticals to provide benefits such as
controlling the release of a drug into the body, enhancing patient compliance
and improving the performance and efficacy of an existing drug. In turn, these
benefits enable the development of new products that better meet the unmet
medical needs of patients. They can also allow pharmaceutical companies to
extend the life cycles of their products, strengthen their patent protection and
thereby enhance the value of their marketed products and development pipelines.
Phoqus is the only company using electrostatic powder coating technology for
pharmaceutical applications and has over 120 granted patents.

Based in Kent, Phoqus was established in 1998 as a spin-out from Colorcon, a
division of Berwind Pharmaceutical Services Inc. The Company was admitted to
trading on AIM in November 2005 and is listed under the symbol "PQS".

Further background on the Company can be found at www.phoqus.com.



                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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