Monday April 21 7:56 AM EDT - Source: Gensia Sicor Inc.
Gensia Sicor Announces Collaboration With Sankyo in Diabetes
Research
SAN DIEGO, April 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Gensia Sicor Inc. (Nasdaq:GNSA) today announced that it has signed an agreement
with Sankyo Co., Ltd. of Japan to collaborate on a research program to discover and develop drugs for the treatment of
non-insulin dependent (Type II) diabetes. Gensia Sicor's diabetes research focuses on a class of novel compounds which
targets and inhibits a rate limiting enzyme that acts in the metabolic pathway responsible for glucose production
(gluconeogenesis) in the liver. The Company has used its expertise in enzyme regulation, computer assisted drug design, cell
biology and medicinal chemistry to design low molecular weight purine nucleotide analogs that enter the cell and regulate the
target enzyme. Gensia Sicor believes that these compounds represent a novel approach for treating Type II diabetes.
Under the terms of the agreement, Gensia Sicor will receive license fees, equity investment, research funding for three years
and milestone payments from Sankyo, plus royalties on product sales. Sankyo will have exclusive, worldwide
commercialization rights to all products discovered in the collaboration. Gensia Sicor, or its permitted assignee, would also
have co- promotion rights in North America to any commercialized product, the final terms of which are subject to future
negotiation.
In commenting on the collaboration, Dr. Paul Laikind, Vice President of Corporate Development of Gensia Sicor said: "We
are extremely pleased to be joining forces in diabetes research with Sankyo, a very strong research partner. Their work in
diabetes research has recently resulted in marketing approval of Noscal (troglitazone) in major worldwide markets, including
the U.S. Noscal is the first of a new class of drugs for the treatment of diabetes and we believe Sankyo is strongly committed
to the discovery and development of additional novel products for the treatment of diabetes."
As part of a previously announced restructuring, Gensia Sicor has formed a subsidiary company called Metabasis
Therapeutics, Inc. and subject to certain consents and availability of funding, Gensia Sicor intends to transfer certain of its
San Diego-based pharmaceutical research and development programs into Metabasis.
"The completion of this collaboration in diabetes research with Sankyo is an important step in the formation of Metabasis,"
said David F. Hale, President and Chief Executive Officer of Gensia Sicor. "We now plan to move to establish Metabasis as a
new biopharmaceutical company."
Sankyo Co., Ltd. is the second largest pharmaceutical company in Japan. Headquartered in Tokyo and established in 1899,
Sankyo employs nearly 7,000 people. As a research-based developer, manufacturer and marketer, Sankyo has introduced
several breakthrough drugs to the international market, including its own ethical drug, Mevalotin (prevastatin), an in-house
developed hyperlipemia agent; Noscal(troglitazone), a hypoglycemic agent with a new mode of action; Banan (cefpodoxime
proxetil), an oral cephalosporin antibiotic; and the largest anti-inflammatory drug in Japan, Loxonin (loxoprofen sodium).
Gensia Sicor Inc. is a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the development, manufacture and marketing of
pharmaceutical products for the worldwide oncology and injectable pharmaceutical markets. Gensia Sicor's commercial
pharmaceutical businesses include Gensia Laboratories, Ltd., a California based manufacturer and marketer of multisource
injectable drugs, SICOR-Societa Italiana Corticosteroidi S.p.A. in Milan Italy, and Sintesis Lerma, S.A. de C.V. in Toluca,
Mexico which produce specialty bulk drug substances, and Lemery, S.A. de C.V. in Mexico City which manufactures
injectable and oral finished multisource drug products. In addition, Gensia Sicor has a proprietary medical products business
based in San Diego. Gensia Sicor also conducts basic research in four primary areas: pain, diabetes, inflammation and
cardiovascular disease.
This press release contains forward looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results
to differ materially from those set forth in the forward looking statements, including whether any products will be
successfully developed under the collaboration, whether Gensia Sicor will be able to obtain the consents and financing
necessary to spin off Metabasis Therapeutics, Inc. to shareholders and the risk factors set forth in Gensia Sicor's recent filing
on Form 10-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These forward looking statements represent Gensia Sicor's
judgment as of the date of this press release. Gensia Sicor disclaims any intent or obligation to update these forward looking
statements.
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