[Pirateninfo] Hoodia-News

[pcl at jpberlin.de]

Phytopharm and Unilever Enter into a Licence and Joint Development 
Agreement for Hoodia Gordonii Extract

GODMANCHESTER, United Kingdom--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 15, 2004-- 
Agreement includes provisions for substantial milestone payments, 
stage payments and royalties 
Phytopharm plc (NASDAQ:PHYOF)(LSE:PYM) ("Phytopharm") announced today 
that it has granted an exclusive global licence to its Hoodia 
gordonii extract to Unilever plc, the global consumer products 
company and owner of a number of the world's leading brands. 
As part of the agreement, Unilever will commit to initial payments 
totalling approximately GBP 6.5 million ($12.5 million) out of a 
potential total of GBP 21 million ($40 million) in payments to 
Phytopharm. In addition Phytopharm will receive an undisclosed 
royalty on sales of all products containing the extract. 
The extract of Hoodia gordonii, a South African plant, was licensed 
exclusively by Phytopharm from the South African Council for 
Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in 1997. Phytopharm has 
been actively developing the extract for incorporation into weight 
loss products. 
Unilever and Phytopharm will collaborate on a five stage research and 
development programme of safety and efficacy studies with a view to 
bringing new products to market. Unilever will also manage a separate 
agronomy programme and will support the international patent 
programme for the products. 
Obesity has reached epidemic proportions globally, with more than 1 
billion adults overweight -- at least 300 million of them clinically 
obese -- and is a major contributor to the global burden of chronic 
disease and disability (Source: World Health Organisation). 
Commenting on today's announcement, Dr. Richard Dixey, Chief 
Executive Officer of Phytopharm, said: "We are delighted to enter 
into this agreement with the global leader in weight management 
products. Our partnership with Unilever supports the development of 
this product with milestones and a fully funded programme and we look 
forward to generating royalty income from our partner's globally 
recognised brands." 
A conference call for analysts and investors will be held at 8.30am 
today. Please call Mo Noonan on 020 7269 7116 for details. 
NOTES TO EDITORS 
Unilever 
Unilever is one of the world's largest consumer products companies 
with annual sales of $48.4 billion in 2003. It produces and markets a 
wide range of foods and home and personal care products including 
Becel, Bertolli, Birds Eye, Blue Band, Country Crock, Findus, Flora 
Pro-Activ, Heart, Hellmann's, Iglo, Knorr, Lipton, Rama, and 
SlimFast. Unilever operates in more than 100 countries around the 
globe and employs approximately 230,000 people. 
CSIR 
The CSIR is the largest public Research and Development organisation 
in Africa. It has a turnover of US$150 million and a staff complement 
of approximately 2500 specialist scientists, engineers, technologists 
and support staff who undertake broadly-based, market-driven research 
and development for the benefit of the commercial market place, as 
well as urban and rural communities in South Africa and the region. 
In 2003, the CSIR entered a benefit sharing agreement with the South 
African San Council, who represent the peoples whose traditional use 
led to the investigation of the Hoodia plant. 
Phytopharm plc 
Phytopharm is focused on the research and development of novel 
pharmaceutical and functional food products based on clinical and pre-
clinical data generated from medicinal plant extracts. The Company 
has seven development programmes in four disease areas: 
neurodegeneration, obesity and metabolic disease, dermatology and 
inflammation and has a portfolio of two marketed veterinary products. 

More information concerning Phytopharm's activities can be found on 
its web site at http://www.phytopharm.com. 
This press release may contain forward-looking statements within the 
meaning of Section 27A of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933 and Section 
21E of the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934 with respect to the 
financial condition, results and business achievements/performance of 
Phytopharm and certain of the plans and objectives of its management. 
These statements are statements that are not historical facts. Words 
such as "should," "expects," "anticipates," "estimates," "believes" 
or similar expressions, as they relate to Phytopharm, are intended to 
identify forward-looking statements. By their nature, forward-looking 
statements involve risk and uncertainty because they reflect 
Phytopharm's current expectations and assumptions as to future events 
and circumstances that may not prove accurate. There is no guarantee 
that the expected events, trends or results will actually occur. Any 
changes in such assumptions or expectations could cause actual 
results to differ materially from current expectations.
Quelle:
http://www.biospace.com/news_company.cfm?CompanyID=2910
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