Caprion Pharmaceuticals Acquires Therapeutic Antibody Clinical Program and Antibody Technologies from Sunol Molecular.Business Editors/Health/Medical Writers BIOWIRE2K MONTREAL--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 7, 2004 Caprion Pharmaceuticals announced today the acquisition of therapeutic antibodies currently in Phase I clinical trials for the treatment of Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome hemolytic uremic syndrome n. A syndrome in which hemolytic anemia and thrombocytopenia occur with acute renal failure, marked in children by sudden gastrointestinal bleeding, urine that contains red blood cells and is scanty in volume, and (HUS) resulting from E. coli infection, as well as technologies for the generation and production of humanized monoclonal antibodies. "This acquisition of both a clinical program and proprietary compound development technologies represents an important transition for us toward becoming a more fully integrated biopharmaceutical company while adding to our ability to drive value off of our distinctive CellCarta(TM) discovery platform," said Lloyd M. Segal, Caprion's President & 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. . "Moreover, we are excited about the potential of the HUS program in that it addresses a significant, un-served market." Annually, more than 200,000 people are affected by E. coli-related disease, with approximately 91,000 of those occurring in the US. There is currently no effective treatment to prevent the life threatening complications that can result from pathogenic E. coli infection. E. coli toxins cause tissue damage leading to HUS, kidney failure and severe brain damage, especially in children and the elderly. "As the HUS program prepared to enter Phase II clinical trials under the direction of a division of the National Institutes of Health (NIH "Not invented here." See digispeak. NIH - The United States National Institutes of Health. ), we wanted to ensure that it received the focus, resources and attention required for the program's success," commented Dr. Hing Wong, Sunol's CEO. "We have found a partner that is well positioned financially and has the expertise to drive this program. This collaboration will also allow Sunol to focus on its core areas of interest, cardiovascular and inflammatory diseases." Caprion will apply the antibody technologies to the development of its pipeline of proprietary tumor antigen targets discovered using CellCarta, its proteomic profiling platform technology. Initially, the focus of this development will be on the generation of antibody therapeutics for the treatment of solid tumors. This transaction is subject to the approval of Caprion shareholders. About Caprion Pharmaceuticals Caprion is a leading proteomics-based drug discovery company applying CellCarta(R) to discover and develop innovative products for the diagnosis and treatment of disease. Caprion has established target discovery partnerships with Abbott Laboratories (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange : ABT ABT About ABT Abteilung (German: Department) ABT Abbott Laboratories (stock symbol) ABT American Ballet Theatre ABT Associação Brasileira de Telemarketing ABT Abort ABT Availability Based Tariff ) in lung cancer, and Biogen IDEC (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 : BIIB BIIB Basic Imagery Interpretation Brief ) in colon cancer, and pharmaco-proteomic and biomarker discovery collaborations with Wyeth (NYSE: WYE), AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN AZN Asian ) and Merck and Co (NYSE: MRK). Caprion has also partnered products for Mad Cow Disease mad cow disease: see prion. mad cow disease or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) Fatal neurodegenerative disease of cattle. Symptoms include behavioral changes (e.g. and variant Creutzfeldt-Jacob Disease diagnostics, in development with IDEXX Laboratories (NASDAQ: IDXX) and Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics, a Johnson & Johnson company (NYSE:JNJ). For more on Caprion, see www.caprion.com. About Sunol Molecular Sunol Molecular Corp. began operations in 1996 and is a privately held company privately held company A firm whose shares are held within a relatively small circle of owners and are not traded publicly. engaged in the discovery and development of novel human therapeutics to treat cardiovascular disease, cancer, inflammatory disorders and infectious diseases. Sunol currently has multiple products in various stages of clinical development. Sunol Molecular Corp is located in Miramar, FL. For more information on Sunol please visit their web site at www.sunolmolecular.com. |
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