Arrowhead Subsidiary, Insert Therapeutics, Signs Collaboration and Option Agreement for Potent Anti-Cancer Compound, Tubulysin.PASADENA, Calif. -- Arrowhead Research Corporation (NASDAQ NASDAQ in full National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations U.S. market for over-the-counter securities. Established in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), NASDAQ is an automated quotation system that reports on :ARWR) announced today that its majority-owned subsidiary majority-owned subsidiary A firm in which more than 50% of outstanding voting stock is owned by the parent company. , Insert Therapeutics, Inc. has entered into a collaboration agreement with R&D-Biopharmaceuticals GmbH to develop and commercialize conjugates of the potent anti-cancer compound tubulysin with Insert's proprietary drug delivery system, Cyclosert(TM). The agreement provides a research license and an option for an exclusive license to develop and commercialize tubulysin-polymer conjugates. "With this agreement, Insert has secured proprietary rights to one of the most potent anti-cancer compounds known," said Edward L. Jacobs, Insert's 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. and President. "The major challenge to its use as a cancer treatment has been toxicity. Linking tubulysin to Cyclosert could provide a fast track its use in humans." Tubulysins are naturally occurring cytotoxins that prevent cell growth and division by destabilizing microtubules Microtubules Slender, elongated anatomical channels in worms. Mentioned in: Antihelminthic Drugs . Data resulting from R&D's research indicate that tubulysin derivatives will offer significant advantages over currently used cancer treatments. Tubulysins have been shown to be 100 to 1000 times more potent than currently used chemotherapeutics, to be highly effective among multi-drug resistant cell lines, and to be non-immunogenic. By combining tubulysins and/or their derivatives with Insert's Cyclosert, it is expected that toxicity will be limited and targeting to tumors will be improved. "We are excited to be unveiling this first additional pipeline compound at Insert," said R. Bruce Stewart Bruce Stewart is a writer born in New Zealand. (1936– ), of Ngati Raukawa, Te Arawa, Stewart is a fiction writer and dramatist who has expressed the anger, confused loyalties and spiritual aspiration of late-twentieth-century Maori. , Chairman of Arrowhead. "We expect to announce additional therapeutic candidates in the near future." Under the terms of the collaboration, R&D will supply Insert with tubulysin technology and material. The two companies will work jointly on the synthesis of the conjugate conjugate /con·ju·gate/ (kon´jdbobr-gat) 1. paired, or equally coupled; working in unison. 2. a conjugate diameter of the pelvic inlet; used alone usually to denote the true conjugate diameter; see after which Insert intends to perform the preclinical testing. The agreement includes an upfront fee to R&D, research funding Research funding is a term generally covering any funding for scientific research, in the areas of both "hard" science and technology and social science. The term often connotes funding obtained through a competitive process, in which potential research projects are evaluated and by Insert to R&D, milestone payments on clinical development and approvals, and royalties on product sales. Arrowhead has a 68% stake in Insert. About Arrowhead Research Corporation Arrowhead Research Corporation (www.arrowheadresearch.com) (NASDAQ:ARWR) is a publicly-traded nanotechnology company commercializing new technologies in the areas of life sciences, electronics, and energy. Arrowhead is building value for shareholders through the progress of majority owned subsidiaries founded on nanotechnologies originally developed at universities. The company works closely with universities to source early stage deals and to generate rights to intellectual property covering promising new nanotechnologies. Currently, Arrowhead has four subsidiaries commercializing nanotech products and applications, including anti-cancer drugs, RNAi therapeutics, carbon-based electronics and compound semiconductor materials Semiconductor materials are insulators at absolute zero temperature that conduct electricity in a limited way at room temperature (see also Semiconductor). The defining property of a semiconductor material is that it can be doped with impurities that alter its electronic properties . About Insert Therapeutics Insert Therapeutics, Inc. (www.insertt.com), a majority-owned subsidiary of Arrowhead Research Corporation (NASDAQ:ARWR), is using its proprietary, nano-engineered, polymeric delivery system, Cyclosert(TM), to design, develop and commercialize delivery-enhanced small-molecule therapeutics and nucleic acids Nucleic acids The cellular molecules DNA and RNA that act as coded instructions for the production of proteins and are copied for transmission of inherited traits. . Cyclosert uses cyclodextrins as building blocks to create an entirely new class of biocompatible materials -- linear cyclodextrin-containing polymers that are nontoxic and nonimmunogenic at therapeutic doses. The company is pursuing this goal through its internal research and development and also through collaborations and partnerships with 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. . About R&D Pharmaceuticals R&D-Biopharmaceuticals GmbH is a private biotechnology company focusing on the pre-clinical development and the commercialisation of unique small molecules deriving from natural products for diseases with unmet medical need. The Company has exclusive access to the natural product class of the Tubulysins discovered by Prof. Hofle from the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research in Germany and to other compound classes with promising potential for the treatment of cancer. The Company is pursuing a partnering strategy to fully exploit the value of its natural products. 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