Ribozyme Pharmaceuticals Forms Joint Venture With Elan; New Breast Cancer Drug Combined With MEDIPAD Drug Delivery System
BOULDER, Colo., Dec. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Ribozyme Pharmaceuticals Inc. (RPI) (Nasdaq: RZYM) today announced that it has signed a letter of agreement to form a joint venture with an affiliate of Elan Corporation plc for research, development and possible commercialization of RPI's ribozyme Herzyme(TM) against Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Type 2 (HER-2) for treatment of breast and other cancers.
Under the terms of the agreement, the joint venture will license the MEDIPAD(R) Drug Delivery System, a disposable subcutaneous drug delivery system technology from Elan Pharmaceutical Technologies, a division of Elan, for development in conjunction with Herzyme, which is being contributed to the joint venture by RPI. Ribozyme may fund its share of development costs of the joint venture through the sale of preferred stock to Elan. In addition, Elan will purchase RPI common stock as part of this agreement. Additional details will be disclosed at the time the transaction is finalized.
"We are looking forward to entering into this joint venture with Elan Corporation, an industry leader in drug delivery technologies," said Ralph E. Christoffersen, CEO and President of RPI. "The joint venture, when consummated, will result in an expansion of our anti-cancer product portfolio and allow us to investigate use of the MEDIPAD(R) technology to enhance subcutaneous delivery of other ribozymes."
Steve Thornton, General Manager Elan Medical Technologies Inc., commented, "This agreement is a testament to the strategic role that drug delivery technology can play in addressing important unmet market needs. Combining our technological capabilities with Ribozyme Pharmaceutical's innovative ribozyme technology will help achieve our goal of developing and commercializing innovative medicines and ultimately providing relief to millions of patients suffering from breast and other cancers."
Herzyme is being developed by RPI to meet a significant medical need. There are currently over 180,000 new breast cancer patients diagnosed each year in the US alone. Approximately 30% of these patients overexpress the HER-2 gene and could benefit from a therapy which specifically targets and downregulates this protein.
"The combination of the specificity and good safety profile of ribozymes seen thus far combined with the ease of home administration with the MEDIPAD(R) System may lead to improvements over the currently available monoclonal antibody to HER-2," said Ernest Borden, M.D., Director of the Center for Cancer Drug Discovery and Development at the Cleveland Clinic.
Ribozymes are the product of Nobel Prize winning science and are synthetically engineered to act as "molecular scissors" capable of cleaving target RNA in a highly specific manner.
RPI, located in Boulder, Colorado, is the acknowledged leader in ribozyme therapeutic development. RPI is partnered with Chiron Corporation for development of its anti-angiogenic cancer compound, Angiozyme(TM), which is currently in Phase I/II clinical trials. RPI also has a collaboration with Eli Lilly and Company for development of an anti-HCV ribozyme for treatment of chronic Hepatitis C infection.
This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, and actual events or results may differ materially. These risk factors include actions by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, technological advances, ability to obtain rights to technology, ability to obtain and enforce patents, ability to commercialize and manufacture products and general economic conditions. These and additional risk factors are identified in the companies' Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including the Forms 10-K and 10-Q and in other SEC filings.
SOURCE Ribozyme Pharmaceuticals Inc.
CO: Ribozyme Pharmaceuticals Inc.; Elan Corporation plc
ST: Colorado, Ireland
IN: MTC BIO
SU: JVN
12/09/1999 07:00 EST prnewswire.com |
