Hi Rick,
I couldn't agree more. I had a salivation problem when I found Ariad earlier this year. :) This is the only company I can find which emphasizes safety issues in gene therapy. The use of orally active drugs to regulate gene expression is significant biologically *and* economically. Combined with inducible apoptosis it makes quite a package. Of course, we are at a relatively early stage here.
And then there's signal transduction...
How would you contrast their expertise in signal transduction with that of others, such as Ligand, Sugen, or Cadus? Sorry, I realize that is a huge question! Any thoughts are greatly appreciated.
Many thanks for your contributions in many forums.
Hillary
-------------------------------
In case you haven't run across this yet, here's a reaffirmation on the S.T. side:
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Dec. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: "ARIA") today announced the achievement of the
first research milestone in its bone disease collaboration with Hoechst Marion Roussel, Inc. (HMRI). Under the terms of the collaborative
research and license agreement between ARIAD and HMRI, ARIAD will receive a $2 million cash payment within 30 days of reaching the
milestone.
"The achievement of this milestone reflects the substantial scientific progress that has been made in our bone disease program" said Harvey J.
Berger, M.D., chairman and chief executive officer of ARIAD. "It is also the result of an excellent working relationship that has been
established between the research teams at ARIAD and HMRI."
ARIAD and HMRI began to collaborate on the discovery and development of drugs to treat osteoporosis and related bone diseases in
November 1995. Under the terms of the collaboration agreement, HMRI made an upfront cash payment to ARIAD of $10 million. The
agreement also calls for HMRI to provide research funding to ARIAD of up to $20 million over a five-year period and up to $10 million in
research milestone payments.
The goal of the collaboration is to develop novel, small-molecule drugs that block the activity of Src, an intracellular signaling protein that is
critical to the osteoporosis disease process. ARIAD is employing its expertise in combinatorial chemistry and structure-based drug design in a
joint effort with HMRI to design and develop Src inhibitor drugs. HMRI has exclusive rights to commercialize these drugs worldwide for the
treatment of osteoporosis and related bone diseases. ARIAD has the right, under certain circumstances, to participate in the development and
commercialization of these products for nonosteoporosis indications in North America. |
