>> 1) Carl owns 25% of the stock but has ties with nearly half the BOD. Not sure what the implications of that are. <<
Me either. A disclosure that was recently filed makes it sound like BMY wants to bail, so, for all I know, he may own 40% soon.
>> Do you know of any? <<
(repost)
Tuesday January 18, 7:30 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
SOURCE: OSI Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
OSI Pharmaceuticals Licenses American Cyanamid's
Yeast GPCR Technology In Patent Cross-Licensing
Agreement
UNIONDALE, N.Y., Jan. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- OSI Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: OSIP - news) announced today that it
has signed a worldwide, non-exclusive, cross-licensing agreement with American Home Products (NYSE: AHP - news)
involving OSI's gene transcription patent estate and a family of patents covering yeast screening technologies developed by
American Cyanamid, a subsidiary of AHP. Financial terms of the agreement have not been disclosed.
The agreement allows OSI to access the Cyanamid technology covered in four issued U.S. patents which include claims for
recombinant expression of a variety of targets in yeast, including G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs), hybrid GPCRs and
orphan receptors for use in human therapeutics. GPCRs are an important class of targets in drug discovery.
Approximately 50 percent of currently marketed therapeutic products target various GPCRs. Examples include beta blockers
for high blood pressure, beta agonists used to treat asthma and antihistamines for cold and allergy treatment. Licensing
Cyanamid's patents adds significantly to OSI's intellectual property in drug discovery technology and follows on from the recent
acquisition of GPCR discovery assets from Cadus Pharmaceuticals Corporation.
``This cross-license agreement provides value to OSI on two fronts,' stated Colin Goddard, Ph.D., President and Chief
Executive Officer of OSI Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ``Firstly, licensing Cyanamid's technology considerably enhances OSI's drug
discovery capabilities in the GPCR area and builds on the value of the assets recently acquired from Cadus. Secondly, AHP's
licensing of OSI's gene transcription technology provides further validation that this is a fundamental technology in widespread
use within the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries.'
The cross-license agreement with OSI allows American Cyanamid to retain exclusive rights to use their GPCR technologies in
the agricultural field.
``The combination of these two patent estates allows American Cyanamid to explore the largely untapped potential of GPCRs
for agricultural applications. We have strengthened our position to discover unique genes, define gene function, and develop
new screens for agricultural use,' said Dennis Ciarlante, Ph.D., Vice-President, Global Crop Protection and Ag Biotechnology
Research for American Cyanamid.
The patents licensed to AHP, including U.S. Patent No. 5,776,502, cover the use of low molecular weight compounds for
agricultural, cosmeceutical, pharmaceutical, or veterinary purposes to modulate gene transcription in vivo. The patent estate
also covers certain assay methods.
AHP is the third major pharmaceutical company to license the transcription patent estate. Pharmacia & Upjohn and R.W.
Johnson Research Institute, a Johnson & Johnson company, recently signed non-exclusive license agreements with OSI. The
Company is continuing to offer licenses to this widely used technology through a broad-based out-licensing program aimed at
the pharmaceutical, agricultural, animal health and biotechnology industries. OSI is in discussions with other companies currently
conducting research and development in the gene transcription area.
American Home Products Corporation (NYSE: AHP - news) is one of the world's largest research-based pharmaceutical and
health care products companies. It is a leader in the discovery, development, manufacturing and marketing of prescription drugs
and over-the-counter medications. It is also a leader in vaccines, biotechnology, agricultural products and animal health care.
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' ability to successfully develop and commercialize drug candidates, 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. |
