Abbott Laboratories and Corixa Enter into Agreement for Chagas' Disease Blood Screening Technology.Business Editors/Health/Medical Writers BIOWIRE2K ABBOTT PARK, Ill.& SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 2, 2004 Note: This release was issued earlier today by Abbott Laboratories Abbott Laboratories and Corixa Corporation (Nasdaq:CRXA) today announced they have entered into an agreement under which Corixa granted to Abbott non-exclusive rights to Corixa's recombinant TcF antigen for potential use in the development of a blood screening test (assay) to detect antibodies to the parasite known as Trypanosoma Trypanosoma /Try·pano·so·ma/ (tri?pan-o-so´mah) a genus of protozoa parasitic in the blood and lymph of invertebrates and vertebrates, including humans. T. bru´cei gambien´se and T. bru´cei rhodesien´se cause types of African trypanosomiasis and T. cru´zi causes Chagas' disease. cruzi (T.cruzi). T cruzi causes Chagas' disease Chagas' disease, disease of South and Central America caused by the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi Trypanosoma cru·zi (kr   z )n. . It usually affects children and young adults and is transmitted by the feces of infected insects, typically the assassin bug. Most of those infected have mild symptoms, such as fever and swelling and redness around the eyes, but from 10% to 30% develop chronic disease that may result in serious or fatal inflammation of the brain and heart tissues., a chronic, potentially lethal infection affecting a total of 16 million to 18 million people worldwide. The announced agreement is one of six agreements entered into between the two companies. Chagas' disease primarily affects the nervous system and heart, causing severe neurological disorders as well as swelling or denervation denervation /de·ner·va·tion/ (de?ner-va´shun) interruption of the nerve connection to an organ or part. of nervous tissue in the heart, colon and esophagus. The T. cruzi organism can circulate in the blood of afflicted individuals for many years after initial infection. Blood from an infected donor transfused into a recipient can lead to a transfusion-acquired infection. Blood banks have recognized the potential for introduction of T. cruzi into the U.S. blood supply and have expressed an interest in the development and evaluation of tests that could be used to prevent its transmission. "Abbott is developing a blood screening test that could help to protect the nation's blood supply against Chagas' disease," said Jim Koziarz, Ph.D., vice president, research and development, diagnostics, Abbott Laboratories. "Corixa's antigen has shown promise, and we look forward to further evaluating Corixa's technology as part of our development program." In September 2002, Corixa presented evidence showing that its unique polyvalent 1. Acting against or interacting with more than one kind of antigen, antibody, toxin, or microorganism. 2. Having more than one chemical valence. pol  y·valence, pol antigen, known as TcF, may be useful for detecting the potential presence of T. cruzi. The potential test would detect serum antibody against the TcF antigen. This antibody to TcF would be expected to be detected only in those individuals previously exposed to T. cruzi. "In studies to date, the TcF recombinant antigen has been able to detect nearly all patients infected with T. cruzi, and has avoided many of the problems of false positivity and unreliability associated with older assays that used whole organisms for antibody detection," said Steven Gillis, Ph.D., chairman and chief executive at Corixa. "Testing for this antibody could be considered in testing our nation's blood supply for this parasite." Separate from the agreement for the T. cruzi antigen, Abbott and Corixa entered into five additional licensing agreements. Four agreements provide non-exclusive cross licenses to intellectual property owned by Abbott or Corixa, respectively, concerning two different cancer-associated antigens. In these agreements, Abbott received non-exclusive licenses from Corixa to develop certain diagnostic products and Corixa received non-exclusive licenses from Abbott to develop cancer vaccines and therapeutic drug monitoring products. In a separate agreement, Corixa granted Abbott non-exclusive rights to develop non-nucleic acid-based diagnostic assays intended to detect mammaglobin, a marker that appears to be significantly over-expressed in breast cancer. All six agreements include payment of up-front fees, product development milestones and/or royalties on any product sales. Specific financial terms were not disclosed. About Chagas' Disease Chagas' disease often goes undiagnosed because its symptoms are also associated with heart disease and a variety of other disorders. In about one-third of acute cases, a chronic form of the disease develops some 10-20 years later, causing irreversible damage to the heart, esophagus and colon. Patients with severe Chagas' disease become progressively more ill and ultimately die, usually from heart failure. According to the World Health Organization, Chagas' disease is endemic in 21 countries, with 16 million to 18 million people infected and 100 million more at risk. Contaminated blood transfusions are suspected to be the primary way in which the parasite has been transmitted to industrialized countries. About Corixa Corixa is a developer of immunotherapeutics with a commitment to treating and preventing cancer and infectious diseases by understanding and directing the immune system. On June 30, 2003, Corixa announced that the FDA approved BEXXAR for the treatment of patients with CD20 positive, follicular, NHL, with and without transformation, whose disease is refractory to Rituximab and has relapsed following chemotherapy. Corixa is focused on immunotherapeutic products and has a broad technology platform enabling both fully integrated vaccine design and the use of its separate, proprietary product components on a stand-alone basis. In addition to BEXXAR, Corixa currently has multiple programs in clinical development, including several product candidates that have advanced to and through late stage clinical trials. The company partners with numerous developers and marketers of pharmaceuticals, targeting products that are Powered by Corixa(TM) technology with the goal of making its potential products available to patients around the world. Corixa was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Seattle, with additional operations in Hamilton, Mont., and South San Francisco. For more information, please visit Corixa's Web site at www.corixa.com. About Abbott Laboratories Abbott Laboratories is a global, broad-based health care company devoted to the discovery, development, manufacture and marketing of pharmaceuticals, nutritionals and medical products, including devices and diagnostics. The company employs more than 70,000 people and markets its products in more than 130 countries. Abbott 's news releases and other information are available on the company's Web site at www.abbott.com. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 -- A Caution Concerning Forward-Looking Statements Abbott Laboratories Some statements in this news release may be forward-looking statements for purposes of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Abbott cautions that these forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements. Economic, competitive, governmental, technological and other factors that may affect Abbott's operations are discussed in Exhibit 99.1 of our Securities and Exchange Commission 2003 Form 10-K, and are incorporated by reference. Abbott undertakes no obligation to release publicly any revisions to forward-looking statements as the result of subsequent events or developments. Corixa This press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements regarding the development of diagnostic and vaccine products and other statements about our plans, objectives, intentions and expectations. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management at the time the statements are made. They are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such statements. Factors that could affect Corixa's actual results include, but are not limited to the failure to develop safe and efficacious diagnostic or vaccine products involving Corixa's technology, the "Factors Affecting Our Operating Results, Our Business and Our Stock Price," described in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2003, copies of which are available from our investor relations department. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this release. |
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