**non**-exclusive. Nice fit with the current business plan.
Wednesday February 16, 6:30 pm Eastern Time
Company Press Release
SOURCE: OSI Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
OSI Pharmaceuticals Announces the Licensing of
Yeast GPCR Technology for Functional Genomics
from Cadus Pharmaceutical
UNIONDALE, N.Y., Feb. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- OSI Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: OSIP - news) today announced that it
has signed a non-exclusive licensing agreement with Cadus Pharmaceutical Corporation (Nasdaq: KDUS - news) involving
Cadus' yeast G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) patent estate. Included in the agreement are access to various reagents, a
library of over 30,000 yeast strains and licenses to proprietary bio-informatics software. Financial terms of the agreement have
not been disclosed.
The agreement complements a recent licensing agreement with American Home Products (AHP) involving a family of patents
covering yeast based GPCR screening technologies developed by American Cyanamid, a subsidiary of AHP, and follows on
from the earlier acquisition of drug discovery programs and research assets from Cadus. GPCRs represent one of the most
important families of targets for drug discovery in the pharmaceutical industry. Over 50 percent of the currently marketed
pharmaceuticals target GPCRs. With this agreement OSI has now secured licenses to the two major intellectual property
estates focusing on GPCRs covering the use of yeast technologies for both drug discovery and functional genomics.
''This agreement represents the second part of a strategy to assemble a leading position with respect to both intellectual
property and expertise for the use of these powerful yeast based technologies,'' stated Colin Goddard, Ph.D., President and
Chief Executive Officer of OSI Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ''The Human Genome Project has created a wealth of information which,
with functional genomics technologies such as these, can be turned into valuable knowledge in the form of validated and
proprietary drug targets.''
The agreement also supplies OSI with proprietary software tools for the mining of genomic databases. Database mining is a
process that can identify so-called ''orphan'' GPCRs. These are GPCRs with unknown function. Once identified the orphan
receptors are inserted into various genetically modified yeast strains which can be employed by research teams in seeking to
determine receptor function. OSI intends to use this intellectual property, together with its internal proprietary expertise in yeast
genetics, as a foundation to develop a rapid, cost-effective functional genomics and drug discovery platform to identify ligands
for these orphan GPCRs. OSI will continue to seek licenses to additional intellectual property that will further broaden and
enhance the application of this technology platform.
The licensing of Cadus' patents provides access to a powerful yeast based technology in the area of GPCRs which was not
part of the Company's recent acquisition of GPCR discovery assets from Cadus. The previously acquired programs included
Cadus' Adenosine Receptor program with advanced preclinical compounds in asthma, as well as leads in Parkinson's disease
and glaucoma. A directed library of 150,000 small-molecule compounds specifically designed for drug discovery in the GPCR
area was also acquired in the previous agreement together with over 40 talented researchers and Cadus' Tarrytown research
facility.
OSI Pharmaceuticals is a leading drug discovery company with a substantial pipeline of product opportunities for
commercialization with the pharmaceutical industry. OSI's research programs are focused in the areas of cancer therapeutics,
cosmeceuticals, diabetes, and GPCR-directed drug discovery. OSI utilizes a comprehensive drug discovery and development
capability to facilitate the rapid and cost-effective discovery and development of novel, small molecule compounds in more than
40 research and development programs. OSI is involved in long-term research alliances with Pfizer, Tanabe, Novartis, Hoechst
Marion Roussel, Sankyo, and Solvay.
This news release contains forward-looking statements. These statements are subject to known and unknown risks and
uncertainties that may cause actual future experience and results to differ materially from the statements made. Factors that
might cause such a difference include, among others, uncertainties related to the identification of lead compounds, the successful
pre-clinical development thereof, the completion of clinical trials, the FDA review process and other governmental regulation,
pharmaceutical collaborators' competition from other pharmaceutical companies, product pricing and third party
reimbursement, and other factors described in OSI Pharmaceuticals' filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
SOURCE: OSI Pharmaceuticals, Inc. |
