Abgenix Licenses From Gliatech Antibody Product Candidates for Cardiovascular and Inflammatory Diseases; IND Planned for 2002.

Business Editors & Medical/Health Writers

FREMONT, Calif. & CLEVELAND--(BW HealthWire)--Nov. 2, 2001

Abgenix, Inc. (Nasdaq:ABGX) and Gliatech Inc. (Nasdaq:GLIA) today announced an agreement that provides Abgenix with exclusive worldwide rights to human monoclonal antibody therapies against the complement protein properdin as potential treatments for cardiovascular and inflammatory diseases. Abgenix has generated lead antibody product candidates for Gliatech under a January 2000 collaboration and will now assume responsibility for development and commercialization. Abgenix anticipates filing an Investigational New Drug (IND) application to the FDA for an anti-properdin antibody product candidate next year.

Under the terms of the agreement, Abgenix obtains an exclusive license to develop and commercialize anti-properdin antibody therapies for all indications and will be responsible for clinical development, regulatory activities, manufacturing, marketing and sales. Gliatech will receive from Abgenix an upfront license fee of $1.5 million, a commitment for a future equity investment, potential milestone payments for multiple clinical indications, research funding for two years and royalties on net sales of any resulting products. Collectively, these non-royalty payments could reach approximately $40 million over the term of the contract if a product is successfully commercialized.

"An anti-properdin antibody represents a promising approach to the treatment of acute inflammatory conditions which result, for example, from cardiopulmonary bypass surgery, heart attacks and stroke," said R. Scott Greer, chairman and chief executive officer of Abgenix. "Gliatech has done a great deal of pre-clinical work in this field and has generated an important intellectual property position. We are excited to move toward clinical development of the first product candidate."

"Our collaborative work with Abgenix over the past two years has led to the identification of promising clinical candidate antibodies," said Steven L. Basta, president of Gliatech. "We have worked closely in this collaboration, and the XenoMouse(R) technology of Abgenix has been an important tool to create antibodies targeted at the properdin antigen that our research team identified in the inflammatory pathway. We are pleased that Abgenix has chosen this antibody among its portfolio of opportunities to move toward commercialization."

Gliatech has been involved in properdin research and its role in modulating inflammatory response for several years and recently received notice of allowance on its patent covering the antigen as a therapeutic target for inflammatory diseases. Agents which block properdin function may play a unique role in modulating the alternative complement pathway in a manner that avoids broad based immune suppression.

Properdin is a protein of the alternative complement pathway, which is a component of the normal host immune system. When the complement pathway is inappropriately triggered, tissue damage may result. Such is the case with acute damage, for example from stimulation of the complement pathway by cardiopulmonary bypass surgery. Shutting down this inappropriate response may thus provide an important anti-inflammatory therapy for patients undergoing such procedures. In chronic diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis, the immune system aberrantly recognizes the patient's own tissue and mounts an autoimmune response. Activation of the complement pathway in such a disease is thought to propagate this attack. An anti-properdin antibody may inhibit this cascade and thus limit tissue damage.

In January 2000, Abgenix and Gliatech established a research collaboration to generate fully human antibodies against properdin using Abgenix's XenoMouse(R) technology. The companies have discovered monoclonal antibodies to properdin that are in vitro and ex vivo inhibitors of the complement alternative pathway. By selectively blocking the alternative pathway, the negative consequences of inappropriate complement activation can be attenuated without inhibiting other key elements of the normal host immune defense. In pre-clinical models, anti-properdin antibodies reduced damage to heart tissue in models of reduced blood flow and effectively blocked complement activation in models of cardiopulmonary bypass surgery.

Abgenix is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of human monoclonal antibody therapies for a variety of diseases. The company's antibody technology platform, which includes XenoMouse(R) and XenoMax(TM) technologies, enables the rapid generation and selection of high affinity, fully human antibody product candidates to disease targets appropriate for antibody therapy. Abgenix leverages its leadership position in human antibody technology by building a large and diversified product portfolio through the establishment of licensing arrangements with multiple pharmaceutical, biotechnology and genomics companies and through the development of its own internal proprietary products. For more information on Abgenix, visit the company's website at www.abgenix.com.

Gliatech Inc. is engaged in the discovery and development of biosurgery and pharmaceutical products. The biosurgery products include ADCON(R)-L and ADCON(R)-T/N and ADCON(R) Solution, which are proprietary, resorbable, carbohydrate polymer medical devices designed to inhibit scarring and adhesions following surgery. Gliatech's pharmaceutical product candidates include small molecule drugs to modulate the cognitive state of the nervous system and proprietary monoclonal antibodies designed to inhibit inflammation.

For Abgenix: Statements made in this press release about Abgenix's technologies, product development activities and collaborative arrangements other than statements of historical fact, are forward looking statements and are subject to a number of uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the statements made, including risks associated with the success of clinical trials, the progress of research and product development programs, the regulatory approval process, competitive products, future capital requirements and the extent and breadth of Abgenix's patent portfolio. Please see Abgenix's public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission for information about risks that may affect Abgenix.

For Gliatech: Certain statements in this press release constitute "forward-looking statements" that are subject to risks and uncertainties which may cause the actual results of the Company to be different from expectations expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to, uncertainty of market acceptance of the Company's products, the uncertainty of the continued development of monoclonal antibodies and other risk factors detailed in the Company's SEC filings.