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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549
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FORM 6-K
REPORT OF FOREIGN PRIVATE ISSUER
PURSUANT TO RULE 13a-16 OR 15d-16 OF
THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
For the month of November 2000.
PROTHERICS PLC
(Translation of Registrant's Name Into English)
BEECHFIELD HOUSE
LYME GREEN BUSINESS PARK
MACCLESFIELD CHESHIRE SK11 0JL
ENGLAND
(Address of Principal Executive Offices)
(Indicate by check mark whether the registrant files or will file
annual reports under cover of Form 20-F or Form 40-F.)
Form 20-F [X] Form 40-F [ ]
(Indicate by check mark whether the registrant by furnishing the
information contained in this form is also thereby furnishing the information to
the Commission pursuant to Rule 12g3-2(b) under the Securities Exchange Act of
1934.)
Form 20-F [ ] Form 40-F [X]
(If "Yes" is marked, indicate below the file number assigned to the
registrant in connection with Rule 12g3-2(b)): 82- .
Attached to the Registrant's Form 6-K for the month of November 2000
and incorporated by reference herein is the Registrant's announcement as
reported to the Company Announcements Office of the London Stock Exchange on
October 23, 2000.
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SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934,
the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the
undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
PROTHERICS PLC
Date: November 15, 2000 By: /s/ Andrew J. Heath
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Andrew J. Heath, M.D., Ph.D.
Chief Executive Officer
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[PROTHERICS GRAPHIC]
23 OCTOBER 2000
PROTHERICS SIGNS VIRTUAL SCREENING CONTRACTS WITH
ZENECA AGROCHEMICALS AND CYTOPIA
Protherics PLC has signed contracts to provide virtual screening services to
Zeneca Agrochemicals, the crop protection and plant science business of
AstraZeneca, and Cytopia, an Australian bio-pharmaceutical company. These
service contracts, which will generate combined revenues of approximately
US$250,000, will provide an immediate new source of revenue to the Company.
Protherics' virtual screening capability will aid these companies in
accelerating the discovery of active compounds for targets in their research
programmes. The service contracts are expected to take between two and four
months to fulfil. Protherics is in advanced discussions with several other
companies to agree further service contracts of a similar size to those
announced today.
This new revenue source resulted from the success of Protherics' Dock Crunch
virtual screening trial where the Company demonstrated its ability to quickly
and accurately identify potential new leads for drug development. To support
demand for its virtual screening services and enable it to capitalise on future
opportunities, Protherics has substantially increased its Computer Aided
Molecular Design (CAMD) capacity with the addition of a powerful new
multiprocessor computer.
PROTHERICS' CHIEF EXECUTIVE, ANDREW HEATH COMMENTED:
"We have created an efficient, accurate and highly valuable tool which puts
Protherics at the cutting edge in this new age of drug discovery. Our
collaborative deal with Ely Lilly & Co., the excellent results from our Dock
Crunch virtual screening trials and these new service contracts all emphasise
the strength of our CAMD business.
Given this foundation, we have recently announced our intention to divest our
CAMD business to provide it with an optimal environment to build on the progress
already achieved."
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Andrew Heath
Chief Executive, Protherics PLC +1 615 963 4511
Laura Frost
Simone Cheetham
The Maitland Consultancy +44 (0) 20 7379 5151
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PROTHERICS PLC
Protherics PLC was formed in September 1999 from the merger of Proteus
International plc and Therapeutic Antibodies Inc. Protherics, an international
biopharmaceutical company, has two platform technologies, the development and
production of immunotherapeutics and computer-aided molecular design.
The Company's ordinary shares are listed on the Official List of the UK Listing
Authority and are traded on the London Stock Exchange.
DOCK CRUNCH - In this pioneering virtual (in-silico) screening project, known
oestrogen receptor binding molecules were correctly identified following the
computational screening of over a million chemical compounds in just one week,
using Protherics' proprietary drug discovery system, PROMETHEUS, and SGI
hardware. In addition, a detailed analysis of the results showed that Protherics
had also identified novel structural classes of oestrogen receptor binding
compounds which might prove useful in treating serious diseases such as
osteoporosis, heart disease and cancer. These results are the subject of
discussions with a number of major pharmaceutical companies.
Further information on the Company and its DockCrunch project is available at:
http: //www.protherics.com.
CYTOPIA PTY LTD
Cytopia is a subsidiary of Medica Holdings Limited, a biotechnology investment
company listed on the Australian Stock Exchange. Cytopia is developing new drugs
for a range of immune diseases by targeting key proteins involved in cytokine
signalling.
For further information visit www.medica.com.au or www.cytopia.com.au
ZENECA AGROCHEMICALS
Zeneca Agrochemicals (http://www.ZenecaAg.com) is the crop protection and plant
science business of AstraZeneca. It is the fourth largest supplier to this
international market, with sales in 1999 of $2.7 billion in over 100 countries.
AstraZeneca (Registered Office, London) is a leading international
pharmaceuticals and bioscience group with 1999 pro forma sales of $18.5 billion.
On 2 December 1999 it was announced by the Board of AstraZeneca PLC that it had
agreed with the Board of Novartis AG to demerge and simultaneously merge
AstraZeneca's agrochemicals and Novartis' agrochemicals and seeds business to
create a new listed company, Syngenta AG. The merger, which is subject to
various conditions including competition authority and shareholder approval, is
expected to be completed in the second half of 2000.
This release, and oral statements made from time to time by Company
representatives concerning the subject matter hereof, may contain so-called
`forward looking statements'. These statements can be identified by introductory
words such as `expects', `plans', `will', `estimates', `forecasts', `projects',
words of similar meaning, and by the fact that they do not relate strictly to
historical or current facts. Forward-looking statements frequently are
discussing the Company's growth strategy, operating and financial goals, plans
relating to regulatory submissions and approvals and development programs. Many
factors may cause actual results to differ from the Company's forward-looking
statements, including inaccurate assumptions and a broad variety of risks and
uncertainties, some of which are known and others of which are not. Those and
other risks are described in the Company's filings with the Securities and
Exchange Commission, copies of which are available from the SEC or may be
obtained upon request from the Company. No forward-looking statement is a
guarantee of future results or events, and one should avoid placing undue
reliance on such statements.
