ARIAD Licenses Its NF-kappa-B Technology to DiscoveRx, Leading Developer of High-Throughput Screening Assays.Business Editors/Health/Medical Writers BIOWIRE2K CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 9, 2003 ARIAD ARIAD Allison Research Index of Art and Design Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ARIA) today announced a non-exclusive worldwide license agreement with DiscoveRx Corporation that grants DiscoveRx the right to commercialize drug-discovery assay products covered by ARIAD's pioneering NF-(kappa)B patents. DiscoveRx will pay ARIAD an upfront license fee and annual license fees, as well as royalties and milestones based on drug-discovery product sales. In addition, pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies Top 100 Biotechnology Companies The following is a list of the top 100 biotechnology companies ranked by revenue. The first nine companies qualify for the list of the top 50 pharmaceutical companies. using the DiscoveRx NF-(kappa)B/I-(kappa)B drug-discovery products will need to enter into separate commercial R&D licenses with ARIAD, including upfront and annual license fees, product development and commercialization milestones and royalties based on sales of pharmaceutical products discovered using ARIAD's NF-(kappa)B technology. To encourage non-commercial research on NF-(kappa)B cell signaling Cell signaling is part of a complex system of communication that governs basic cellular activities and coordinates cell actions. The ability of cells to perceive and correctly respond to their microenvironment is the basis of development, tissue repair, and immunity as well as , academic investigators are not required to obtain licenses from ARIAD. "By licensing our NF-(kappa)B patents to DiscoveRx, we are expanding the revenue-generating opportunities for our NF-(kappa)B cell-signaling technology. DiscoveRx will be marketing its NF-(kappa)B drug-discovery products to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies that will require commercial R&D licenses from us," said Harvey J. Berger, chairman and chief executive officer of ARIAD. NF-(kappa)B can generally be thought of as a "biological switch" that can be turned on or off in cells to treat various disease conditions, such as inflammation, cancer and osteoporosis. The licensed patents are part of ARIAD's NF-(kappa)B patent portfolio awarded to the Whitehead Institute Founded in 1982, the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research is a non-profit research and teaching institution located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The Whitehead Institute was founded as a fiscally independent entity from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and its members of Biomedical Research Biomedical research (or experimental medicine), in general simply known as medical research, is the basic research or applied research conducted to aid the body of knowledge in the field of medicine. , Massachusetts Institute of Technology Massachusetts Institute of Technology, at Cambridge; coeducational; chartered 1861, opened 1865 in Boston, moved 1916. It has long been recognized as an outstanding technological institute and its Sloan School of Management has notable programs in business, , and Harvard University Harvard University, mainly at Cambridge, Mass., including Harvard College, the oldest American college. Harvard College Harvard College, originally for men, was founded in 1636 with a grant from the General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. . ARIAD has an exclusive license to these patents. DiscoveRx has launched a series of cell-based drug-discovery products measuring the degradation of I-(kappa)B, the inhibitor of NF-(kappa)B, after activation by TNF-(alpha), IL-1 and other agents, as well as products to screen for GPCRs, proteasome inhibitors and other biological pathways. These assays employ the DiscoveRx proprietary enzyme fragment complementation Complementation (genetics) The complementary action of different genetic factors. The term usually implies two homologous chromosomes or chromosome sets, each defective because of mutation and unable by itself to promote the normal development or metabolism of technology and are ideally suited for high-throughput screening using cell-based assays. ARIAD is engaged in the discovery and development of breakthrough medicines that regulate cell signaling with small molecules. The Company is developing a comprehensive approach to the treatment of cancer and is primarily focused on a series of product candidates for targeted oncology indications. ARIAD also has an exclusive license to pioneering technology and patents related to the discovery, development and use of drugs that regulate NF-(kappa)B cell-signaling activity, which has been implicated im·pli·cate tr.v. im·pli·cat·ed, im·pli·cat·ing, im·pli·cates 1. To involve or connect intimately or incriminatingly: evidence that implicates others in the plot. 2. in many major diseases. Additional information about ARIAD can be found on the web at http://www.ariad.com. DiscoveRx develops and commercializes products for high throughput in vitro in vitro /in vi·tro/ (in ve´tro) [L.] within a glass; observable in a test tube; in an artificial environment. in vi·tro adj. In an artificial environment outside a living organism. and in vivo in vivo /in vi·vo/ (ve´vo) [L.] within the living body. in vi·vo adj. Within a living organism. in vivo adv. drug discovery assays and detection of protein expression based on the enzyme fragment complementation technology. The objective of the company is to enable drug discovery organizations to quickly and sensitively screen novel targets in both in vitro and cell-based assay formats that are difficult to screen with current technologies. DiscoveRx has an agreement with Applied Biosystems to distribute its product line of in vitro assays. DiscoveRx also has its own direct sales force selling the drug-discovery products. Additional information about DiscoveRx can be found on the web at http://www.discoverx.com. Some of the matters discussed herein are forward-looking statements. Such statements are identified by the use of words such as "anticipate," "estimate," "expect," "project," "intend," "plan," "believe," and other words and terms of similar meaning in connection with any discussion of ARIAD's future operating or financial performance. Such statements are based on management's current expectations and are subject to certain factors, risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results, events and performance to differ materially from those referred to or implied in such statements. These risks include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties regarding ARIAD's preclinical studies preclinical studies, n.pl a term used to describe research done before a clinical study. May be laboratory or epidemiologic research. , ARIAD's ability to conduct clinical trials of its product candidates and the results of such trials, as well as risks and uncertainties relating to economic conditions, markets, products, competition, intellectual property, services and prices, key employees, future capital needs, dependence on ARIAD's collaborators and other factors. These risks are identified in ARIAD's Annual Report on Form 10-K Form 10-K A report required by the SEC from exchange-listed companies that provides for annual disclosure of certain financial information. Form 10-K See 10-K. for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2002, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The information contained in this document is believed to be current as of the date of original issue. ARIAD does not intend to update any of the forward-looking statements after the date of this document to conform these statements to actual results or to changes in ARIAD's expectations, except as required by law. |
|
||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion