Acusphere and Elan Terminate Joint Venture; All Intellectual Property and Development Rights Assigned to Acusphere.Business/Technology Editors and Health/Medical Writers BIOWIRE2K WATERTOWN, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 1, 2002 Acusphere, Inc. announced today that it has reached an agreement with Elan Corporation, plc (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange :ELN Noun 1. ELN - a Marxist terrorist group formed in 1963 by Colombian intellectuals who were inspired by the Cuban Revolution; responsible for a campaign of mass kidnappings and resistance to the government's efforts to stop the drug trade; "ELN kidnappers target ) and affiliates, terminating, in a cash-free transaction, their joint venture established in June 2000. This joint venture was formed to develop and commercialize certain pulmonary drug delivery product candidates. The termination of the joint venture is a result of Elan's restructuring efforts and desire to focus on its core businesses in neurology, pain and autoimmune diseases Autoimmune diseases A group of diseases, like rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus, in which immune cells turn on the body, attacking various tissues and organs. Mentioned in: Complement Deficiencies, Premature Menopause . Under the termination agreement, Acusphere was assigned all intellectual property and development rights to product candidates developed by the joint venture. In exchange for this assignment, Acusphere has agreed to pay Elan a royalty on certain revenues that may be realized by Acusphere in the future on these product candidates. "From the beginning of our joint venture with Elan, we had an extremely productive relationship," said Sherri C. Oberg, Acusphere's President and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. . "This is demonstrated by the rapid development of our sustained release asthma drug candidate, AI-SR(TM), which entered the clinic in May 2002. The assignment of all joint venture product rights to Acusphere in a cash-free transaction allows us to move ahead and control all decision-making going forward, with respect to future product development and strategic partnering on these products." About Acusphere, Inc. Acusphere is a privately held specialty pharmaceutical company that develops new drugs and improved formulations of existing drugs using its proprietary porous microparticle technology. This technology allows the size and porosity of microparticles to be engineered resulting in versatile drug delivery systems for all routes of administration. This porous microparticle technology is broadly applicable as a pulmonary drug delivery system, as a hydrophobic hydrophobic /hy·dro·pho·bic/ (-fo´bik) 1. pertaining to hydrophobia (rabies). 2. not readily absorbing water, or being adversely affected by water. 3. drug delivery system (HDDS HDDS Hazards Data Distribution System HDDS High-Density Data System HDDS Hull Design Database System HDDS Hazardous Device Disposal Squad HDDS Hold Deck Deck Switch HDDS Hydro-Dynamic Device Simulator (TM)) and as an intravenous gas delivery system for ultrasound contrast. Acusphere has three porous microparticle product candidates in clinical development: AI-SR(TM), an inhaled sustained release asthma formulation; AI-850(TM), an improved formulation of the cancer drug paclitaxel paclitaxel /pac·li·tax·el/ (pak?li-tak´sel) an antineoplastic that promotes and stabilizes polymerization of microtubules, isolated from the Pacific yew tree (Taxus brevifolia); ; and AI-700(TM), an ultrasound contrast agent for the detection of coronary artery disease coronary artery disease, condition that results when the coronary arteries are narrowed or occluded, most commonly by atherosclerotic deposits of fibrous and fatty tissue. . AI-SR and AI-850 each entered Phase I clinical trials in May 2002. AI-700 has completed Phase II clinical trials. Acusphere has focused on therapeutic areas where its drug delivery technology has the potential to provide significant clinical benefits. The company is financed by a leading group of venture capital investors including Polaris Venture Partners, Thomas Weisel Capital Partners and BA Venture Partners. For more information about Acusphere visit the company's Web Site at http://www.acusphere.com. |
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