news, page-6

and some other interesting paragraphs.

In addition to regenerating diseased
liver tissue and restoring
normal liver function (particularly the
liver’s protein synthesising function),
three months treatment with Ropren
was able to normalise lipid metabolism
(cholesterol levels), improve
carbohydrate metabolism through
enhanced anti-oxidant activity, and
restore normal levels of activity for a
number of important liver and brain
enzymes.
Solagran is expecting a strong
reaction to these results – particularly
from an audience comprising
specialists who are in the frontline of
the fi ght against a world-wide liver
disease epidemic. The fact that until
the emergence of Ropren, there was
no effective low-side effect treatment
for serious liver diseases like
cirrhosis means that its emergence
will capture a great deal of attention.
In addition, the fact that Solagran’s
scientifi c collaborators are now able
to point to a link between poor liver
function and the incidence of neurodegenerative
disorders, makes
Ropren’s emergence particularly
signifi cant – especially for developed
countries facing rapid growth in the
incidence of dementia.

I have a packed schedule of meetings with
very senior people from academia, the medical
profession, the pharmaceutical industry and
the government. We also have some important
decisions to make in relation to production facilities.
We have a good understanding of how the
demand for Ropren will develop, starting with
the cities of Moscow and St Petersburg. But we
need to be acting now to ensure that we have
the capacity and infrastructure in place that will
be required to serve the remainder of Russia and
the CIS countries.
One of the highlights of this trip will be a major
gastroenterology conference in St Petersburg
in mid-May. We have been accorded special
status by the conference organisers because
of the signifi cance of the introduction of Ropren
into the Russian pharmacopoeia. Not only is it
a paradigm-shifting drug, it is the fi rst Russian
developed drug to enter the pharmacopoeia for
many years.

We have also completed a trial
with opiate addicted chronic alcoholics
using Bioeffective® A. This
trial was a replica of that conducted
in 2006 using Ropren. There appears
to be real potential to use both
substances together in a combination
therapy. We will have more to say
about this once patents have been
secured.

Once registration is granted in the
next few weeks, our focus will switch
to production and the important step of
technological integration with
SibEX. By August or September,
we expect to be in an unassailable
leadership position in relation to the
science and the production of plant
polyprenols.