EpiGenesis and Hybridon to collaborate on antisense for respiratory diseases.

EpiGenesis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Cranbury, NJ; 609-409-3033), and Hybridon, Inc. (Cambridge, MA; 617-679-5500) announced that the companies have entered into a collaborative alliance to develop and market up to five antisense drugs for respiratory diseases. This alliance will concentrate on developing drugs which will be delivered directly to the respiratory tract. Hybridon will receive an upfront cash payment of $500,000 along with a portion of future royalties and sublicense fees on any future compounds that use Hybridon's proprietary chemistries. EpiGenesis gains access to state-of-the-art antisense chemistry and a patent portfolio that will dramatically reduce the time required to further develop its proprietary RASONs (respirable anti-sense oligonucleotides) to treat a wide range of respiratory diseases.

"Our expertise in DNA chemistry and EpiGenesis' exper-tise in respiratory diseases gives both companies, through this license, the opportunity to apply our proprietary technology to a new and exciting therapeutic approach," said Dr. Sudhir Agrawal, President and Chief Scientific Officer of Hybridon.

The agreement offers EpiGenesis a strengthened patent position and the benefit of access to significant clinical experience with oligonucleotide chemistry that should enable us to cut the time from test tube to clinical trial by more than 75 percent, for several compounds," explained Jonathan Nyce, Ph.D., CEO of EpiGenesis. "This allows us to multiply the opportunities for RASONs, an entirely new class of respiratory drug that offers long-lasting symptom prevention, superior safety and enhanced efficacy when compared to current therapies on the market," added Dr. Nyce.

"Our ground-breaking research and the experiences of others in the antisense field have demonstrated the advantages of advanced antisense chemistries," said R. Russell Martin, M.D., Hybridon's Senior Vice President of Drug Development. "Clinical results suggest that these compounds have a broader margin of safety and improved pharmaceutical properties when compared to the initial generation of antisense agents."

EpiGenesis recently began clinical trials for its respirable antisense oligonucleotide (RASON), EPI-2010 for asthma, in the United States and UK. The company will shortly initiate discussions regarding the licensing of EPI-2010 in the United States and Europe.

In addition to its work in antisense research, EpiGenesis is developing diagnostics that can predict the responsive-ness of individual patients to a particular therapy, and in developing small molecule drugs for respiratory disease. EPI-12323 is a small molecule non-glucocorticoid steroid for asthma, which is available for licensing. EpiGenesis' discovery efforts are focused on developing more effective, efficient treatments for respiratory disease, with fewer side effects than currently available therapies.

EpiGenesis' top management team is comprised of internationally renowned researchers, successful business executives, intellectual property experts, regulatory specialists and seasoned marketers from some of the country's leading pharmaceutical, biotech and diagnostics companies.