Selvita S.A., a biotechnology company from Krakow, Poland (PL:SLV) announced today that its collaboration with Orion Corporation from Espoo, Finland (ORNBV) on SEL103 program, for the symptomatic treatment of Alzheimer's disease has reached the main research milestone and that the jointly discovered molecules from two different chemical families will progress into further pre-clinical characterization before the selection of a candidate into development.

The companies entered into a global collaboration with the aim to discover, develop and commercialize SEL103, Selvita's proprietary program for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease and other cognitive disorders in 2010. Selvita is responsible for early research on the program and Orion will take over the pre-clinical and clinical development as well as further commercialization.

Under the terms of the agreement, Selvita is responsible for the discovery and Orion is responsible for the development and global commercialization.

"The joint project with Orion and Selvita has been proceeding very well despite of many challenges in the biology. I have enjoyed working with the open minded, enthusiastic, and goal-oriented team of Selvita that has been able to meet the pre-agreed deliverables of the project. Especially, Selvita's medicinal chemistry design and synthesis people have even exceeded the high expectations we had in the start. While practical work is now gradually switching from Selvita to Orion's responsibility I look forward to seeing confirmatory preclinical study results that would qualify compound(s) to be selected for further development and clinical studies" said Dr. Jukka Sallinen, Head of CNS Research of Orion.

"We are delighted with the research progress in SEL103" said Pawel Przewiezlikowski, the Chief Executive Officer of Selvita, "The milestone with Orion is the first publicly announced milestone from Selvita integrated research collaborations and another proof of the skills of Selvita scientific team. We look forward to the further development of the program by Orion".


About ALZHEIMER'S

Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of dementia. Dementia is a collective name for progressive degenerative brain syndromes which affect memory, thinking, behavior and emotion. Although there are no drugs that can cure Alzheimer's disease, there are some treatments that can help people with Alzheimer's disease. However, better drug treatments are needed, especially due to the aging of human population. Currently there are an estimated 30 million people worldwide with dementia. Two thirds of them live in developing countries. This figure is set to increase to more than 100 million people by 2050. Much of this increase will be in rapidly developing and heavily populated regions such as China, India and Latin America (according to Alzheimer's Disease International, ADI).


About SEL103

Selvita's SEL103 program is based on novel, orally bioavailable and highly selective small-molecules which have the potential to play role in the treatment of multiple cognitive disorders, including Alzheimer's disease, dementias, etc.

About SELVITA

SELVITA is a Polish, biotechnology company listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange (PL:SLV) engaged in the discovery and development of breakthrough medicines to treat CNS, oncology and autoimmune disorders as well as provision of non-clinical research services. It was established and 2007 and currently employs 140 scientists, including 50 PhDs. SELVITA has currently several projects at early or late discovery stage and is expected to move its first candidates to the clinic in 2012. The most advanced programs at Selvita are SEL103 for the symptomatic treatment of Alzheimer's disease, SEL141 - a discovery stage program targeting tau-hyperphosphorylation through DYRK1A kinase, as well as SEL24 (PIM) and SEL120 (CDK8/9) kinase inhibitor programs in oncology.

About ORION

Orion is a globally operating Finnish company developing pharmaceuticals and diagnostic tests - a builder of well-being. Orion develops, manufactures and markets human and veterinary pharmaceuticals, active pharmaceutical ingredients and diagnostic tests. The company is continuously developing new drugs and treatment methods. Pharmaceutical R&D focuses on central nervous system drugs, oncology and critical care drugs, and Easyhaler® pulmonary drugs.
Orion's net sales in 2011 amounted to EUR 918 million and the company had about 3,400 employees. Orion's A and B shares are listed on NASDAQ OMX Helsinki.