Agouron Acquires Alanex Corporation
PR Newswire - April 29, 1997 09:04
Alanex looks to be in the same business as TRPS. A sign of things to come? Bought for 1 mill in stock or approx. $60+ million.
LA JOLLA, Calif., April 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Agouron Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
(Nasdaq-NNM: AGPH) announced today that it has signed a definitive agreement
to acquire Alanex Corporation, a privately held drug discovery company, for
1,000,000 shares of newly issued Agouron common stock. The transaction is
expected to close in approximately 30 days.
Alanex, located in San Diego, is engaged in the discovery of drug leads
through the high-speed screening of diverse chemical libraries designed by
computational methods and generated by combinatorial chemistry. Alanex
utilizes proprietary software to design either broad or highly targeted
combinatorial libraries of molecules that can readily be synthesized in large
numbers. With approximately 80 employees, Alanex is presently conducting
research projects aimed at discovery of drugs for such therapeutic indications
as pain, diabetes, obesity, anxiety, and certain malignant tumors. Alanex
currently has collaborative arrangements with Aurora Biosciences, Astra
Pharma, Inc., Novo Nordisk, and Roche Bioscience.
A leader in the design of small molecule drugs based upon the three
dimensional structures of proteins that play key roles in human disease,
Agouron currently markets its first commercial product, an HIV protease
inhibitor, in the United States and is engaged in the research and development
of more than a dozen other products.
"We have believed for some time that the integration of technologies for
three-dimensional, structure-based drug design with technologies for
computation-directed combinatorial chemistry and high throughput screening
could be an extremely powerful force in drug discovery with immediate
benefits," said Peter Johnson, Agouron's president and chief executive
officer. "We were very impressed by the competitive position of Alanex in the
area of targeted combinatorial chemistry and impressed by the contributions
that Alanex's proprietary research projects could make to our development
pipeline. The fact that Alanex is well funded through collaborative
arrangements with excellent pharmaceutical partners made the merger all the
more attractive to Agouron."
Current employees of Alanex are generally expected to become employees of
a subsidiary of Agouron to be headed by Marvin Brown, M.D., currently
president and chief executive officer of Alanex Corporation. The Alanex
subsidiary will continue to engage in collaborative research programs with
pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, will independently carry out
certain proprietary drug discovery programs, and will have access to the
product development and marketing capabilities of Agouron.
"The acquisition of Alanex is not expected to have a significant impact on
Agouron's near-term financial condition," said Steven Cowell, Agouron's vice
president and chief financial officer. "While the acquisition is expected to
be accounted for as a purchase and generate a significant write-off of
in-process R&D in the fourth quarter of Agouron's fiscal year ending June 30,
1997, revenues from Alanex's existing and anticipated collaborative
arrangements are expected to substantially offset its operating expenses in
fiscal 1998."
"We are excited to accept this unique opportunity to merge the discovery
technologies of our two companies," said Dr. Brown. "Access to Agouron's
development and marketing capabilities will also assure the progress of
Alanex's proprietary development projects."
PaineWebber Incorporated acted as advisor to Agouron in the merger
transaction; Lehman Brothers acted as advisor to Alanex.
Agouron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is an integrated pharmaceutical company
committed to the discovery, development, manufacturing and marketing of small
molecule drugs for treatment of serious diseases.
Certain statements in this news release consist of forward-looking
statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited
to, uncertainties regarding future collaborative research programs and
financial and other representations made by management. Other risks may exist
as detailed from time to time in the reports filed by the company with the
Securities and Exchange Commission, including the company's reports on Forms
10-K and 10-Q.
SOURCE Agouron Pharmaceuticals Inc.
CONTACT: Donna Nichols, Senior Director, Corporate Communications of
Agouron, 619-622-3009
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