NEKTAR GETS $17.6 MILLION FROM AFFYMAX PACT FOR HEMATIDE.Nektar Therapeutics (Nasdaq:NKTR), San Carlos San Carlos (săn kär`lōs), residential city (1990 pop. 26,167), San Mateo co., W Calif.; inc. 1925. The chief manufactures are plastic products, hardware, and machine parts. . Calif., has received a $17.6 million payment under a previously undisclosed license agreement with Affymax, Inc. The cash payment under the Nektar-Affymax agreement was triggered by Affymax entering into a global agreement with Takeda, Inc. to develop and commercialize Affymax's lead product candidate, Hematide(TM). Hematide utilizes Nektar Advanced PEGylation Technology and is in Phase IIb clinical trials for the treatment of anemia. Nektar and Affymax entered into a partnership in 2004 under which Nektar provides Affymax with its Advanced PEGylation Technology to develop Hematide. Under the terms of the agreement, Nektar receives manufacturing revenue, milestone and other payments, as well as royalties on worldwide end product sales. Nektar first announced the agreement in May of 2004 as a collaboration with an undisclosed biotechnology company. "This payment highlights the value of Nektar PEGylation technology, which is used in eight marketed products and two additional products filed for regulatory approval in the U.S. and Europe," said Rob Chess, Nektar chairman and acting chief executive officer and president. "Our PEGylation technology has proven its ability to create blockbuster drugs for our partners. As part of our focus on expanding our PEGylation business, Nektar is identifying and developing our own proprietary products using PEGylation. This includes two early-stage programs in our pipeline in the disease areas of oncology and pain." About Nektar Advanced PEGylation Technology Nektar Advanced PEGylation has the potential to improve the safety and efficacy of therapeutic agents by increasing drug circulation time in the bloodstream, decreasing immunogenicity immunogenicity /im·mu·no·ge·nic·i·ty/ (-je-nis´it-e) the property enabling a substance to provoke an immune response, or the degree to which a substance possesses this property. and dosing frequency, increasing bioavailability bioavailability /bio·avail·a·bil·i·ty/ (bi?o-ah-val?ah-bil´i-te) the degree to which a drug or other substance becomes available to the target tissue after administration. bi·o·a·vail·a·bil·i·ty n. and improving drug solubility and stability. It is based on the use of non-toxic polyethylene glycol polyethylene glycol (PEG): see glycol. (PEG) polymers, which can be attached to most major drug classes, including proteins, peptides, antibody fragments, small molecules, and other drugs and is used in eight approved products in the U.S. and/or Europe today. Two other products using Nektar Advanced PEGylation have been filed for approval by Nektar partners in both the U.S. and the European Union European Union (EU), name given since the ratification (Nov., 1993) of the Treaty of European Union, or Maastricht Treaty, to the European Community , including UCB's Cimzia(TM) for Crohn's Disease Crohn's disease: see colitis. . About Hematide Hematide, a synthetic, peptide-based erythropoiesis- stimulating agent (ESA 1. (architecture) ESA - Enterprise Systems Architecture. 2. (body) ESA - European Space Agency. ), is designed to stimulate the production of red blood cells Red blood cells Cells that carry hemoglobin (the molecule that transports oxygen) and help remove wastes from tissues throughout the body. Mentioned in: Bone Marrow Transplantation red blood cells . The product is in Phase IIb clinical trials for anemia in dialysis, pre-dialysis and cancer chemotherapy patients. ESAs address currently a $12 billion market worldwide and have been used successfully to manage anemia in patients with chronic kidney disease Chronic kidney disease (CKD), also know as chronic renal disease, is a progressive loss of renal function over a period of months or years through five stages. Each stage is a progression through an abnormally low and progressively worse glomerular filtration rate, which is (CKD See count-key-data. ) and cancer-related anemia. They reduce the need for blood transfusions and the frequency and severity of anemia-associated morbidity, resulting in an improved quality of life for patients. About Nektar Nektar Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company that develops and enables differentiated therapeutics with its industry-leading drug delivery technologies, expertise and manufacturing capabilities. Nektar technology and know-how have enabled nine approved products for partners, which include the world's leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. Nektar also develops its own products by applying its drug delivery technologies and expertise to existing medicines to enhance performance, such as improving efficacy, safety and compliance. For more information, call 212/867-9212. |
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