Chiron and DowElanco Initiate Combinatorial Chemistry Collaboration in Agriculture Field.

EMERYVILLE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 10, 1996--Chiron Corporation (NASDAQ:CHIR), and DowElanco, one of the world's largest research-based agriculture and specialty products companies, announced Wednesday a collaboration focused on the use of Chiron's combinatorial chemistry libraries in screens to identify compounds with potential applications in the agriculture arena.

"This agreement is Chiron's first major collaboration applying it combinatorial chemistry libraries outside the pharmaceutical sector," said Walter H. Moos, Ph.D., vice president of Chiron Technologies. "We believe that our technology will allow DowElanco, a leading developer and marketer of crop protection and specialty pest management products, to more rapidly discover compounds with potential utility in its field."

Under the agreement, DowElanco will use several of Chiron's chemical libraries to screen for compounds that may be used for weed, insect, and plant disease management. DowElanco will make an initial payment to Chiron for use of its libraries in DowElanco's proprietary screening assays, and will support subsequent research activities. Should "lead" compounds be identified for further development, DowElanco will pay Chiron a license fee, and will make payments to Chiron upon achievement of certain regulatory milestones during each compound's development. DowElanco will have exclusive worldwide development and marketing rights to the compounds for agricultural and specialty pest management use, and Chiron will receive royalties on products, as well as retain the same worldwide rights for any human health use of the compounds. In addition, Chiron retains first right to negotiate a supply agreement if DowElanco or its affiliates choose not to manufacture the compounds.

"Collaborating with a major agricultural research leader, DowElanco, demonstrates the broad potential applications of Chiron's chemical libraries beyond human healthcare," said Moos. "We are seeking additional opportunities to leverage the potential of our technology in other industries, such as those focusing on polymer and materials sciences, cosmetics and personal care products."

"This agreement gives DowElanco access to combinatorial libraries in collaboration with one of the leading companies in the rapidly developing field of combinatorial chemistry," said Perry Gehring, Ph.D., vice president, research, DowElanco. "The potential is there to impact the lead generation process for agricultural targets as well as pharmaceutical targets."

Chiron's chemistry research and development programs apply integrated approaches to drug discovery and design. The group uses broad, proprietary, state-of-the-art technology including synthetic and computational strategies as a means of generating and analyzing molecular diversity. Chiron uses automated, high throughput technologies to assemble the abundant variety of chemical building blocks used to make novel small molecule compounds. Its libraries are strategically designed with minimal chemical redundancy and optimal diversity among components, allowing highly fruitful screening with smaller libraries. In addition to the automated approach of synthesizing novel chemical libraries, Chiron employs solid phase synthesis technology using the Mimotopes "multi-pin" approach in search for biologically active lead compounds.

DowElanco, with sales of $1.9 billion, is one of the world's largest research-based agricultural companies. It discovers, develops, manufactures, and markets agricultural and non-crop products for weed management, insect management, plant disease management, nitrogen stabilization, plant growth regulation and soil fumigation. The company also operates a seed division.

The company was formed in 1989 as a joint venture between The Dow Chemical Company and Eli Lilly and Company when they combined their Agricultural, Specialty, and Plant Sciences businesses. DowElanco's world headquarters is located in Indianapolis, Indiana, in a complex that houses over 1,000 of the company's 3,100 worldwide employees.

Chiron Technologies is a business unit of Chiron Corporation, a biotechnology company headquartered in Emeryville, California, near San Francisco. Chiron is building a healthcare business that addresses needs in several markets: diagnostics, including immunodiagnostics and bDNA probe assays; vaccines, emphasizing adult and pediatric infectious diseases; therapeutics, with an emphasis on oncology, endocrinology and serious infectious and other diseases requiring critical care; and ophthalmic products for the surgical correction of vision.

CONTACT: Chiron Corporation, Emeryville

Larry Kurtz, 510/601-2476

Kimberly Kraemer, 510/601-2412

or

DowElanco

Jack Mitenbuler, 317/337-4793