International press conference in Lisbon to present the first results of the Venomics Project

Next Tuesday, June 24^th, will be presented in Lisbon the first results of the Venomics Project, which is financed by the European funds. The total project amount is 9.1 million euros, 6 million of them have been financed by the FP7 HEALTH 2011-2015 Programme. The press conference will be held at Sana Lisboa Hotel at 10 am, Lisbon time.

Leading companies from five European Union countries (Belgium, Denmark, France, Portugal and Spain) are participating in this innovative initiative in order to identify and to develop the new drugs from the venom animals. There are now an estimated 170.000 venomous animals and 40 millions of venoms’ proteins, some of them could serve to create the new drugs. The venomous animals not yet characterized are currently under research, thanks to the contribution of the new sequencing technologies.

This is the biggest world project in this field, studying the capacity of poisons to produce drugs on a scale that never have been occurred before (more than 200 poisons researched). The scientists team has traveled to different parts of the world (specially the French Guyana) in order to take samples which never have been analysed and characterized before.

The project includes also a leader technology that will allow to develop drugs faster and with less cost. The diseases to which they are adressed ranging from pain, cardiovascular diseases, cancer or diabetes.

In order to inform about this project and the findings obtained up to now, it is planned to call a international press conference in Lisbon, which will be followed in live streaming in English. In the press conference will participate four of the main experts involved in this project, leaders of the different project work areas.

It is possible to send your questions by e-mail to:

venomics@ sic-pro.es

Links to follow the press conference live: www.sistemasgenomicos.com;  www.agenciasinc.es; www.indagando.tv   Contacts: Graziella Almendral galmendral@indagando.tv Tel. +34 637 505 256 Melania Bentué melania.bentue@indagando.tv venomics@sic-pro.es Tel. +34 616 408 339