May 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Myriad Genetics, Inc. (Nasdaq: MYGN - news) and Hitachi Ltd. (NYSE: HIT - news) today announced a $26 million strategic alliance based upon Myriad's proprietary high-throughput proteomic screening technology, ProNet©. Under the terms of the agreement, Hitachi and Myriad will exploit the ProNet© technology together in Japan and Hitachi will establish a designated ProNet© facility to expedite the discovery of novel protein-protein interactions for Japanese customers. Myriad will receive an upfront license fee payment of $15 million and research funding totaling $11 million over 3 years.
Hitachi, one of the world's leading global electronics companies, established its Life Science Group last year to promote the commercialization of biotechnology. Hitachi plans to invest 6 billion yen in R&D in its first three years. Hitachi plans to generate sales of 200 billion yen annually by 2010. Hitachi will initially focus on bioinformatics services for DNA analyses and database services as well as functional analyses of genes and proteins.
``Myriad is a worldwide leader in the application of protein interaction technology to discover novel therapeutic targets. This alliance provides us with a gateway into the Japanese pharmaceutical market and Hitachi with state-of-the-art proteomics technology,'' said Peter Meldrum, president and chief executive officer of Myriad Genetics, Inc. ``Hitachi's corporate expansion into the life science sector, coupled with their excellent international reputation, make them an outstanding proteomics partner for us in Japan. We anticipate a powerful and productive alliance.''
ProNet© technology is an integrated system for the high throughput identification of protein-protein interactions. These interactions allow for the discovery of functional protein partners from human cDNA libraries, and therefore the mapping of fundamental biochemical pathways such as cell growth pathways, inter-cellular signaling pathways, cell aging and programmed cell death. These pathways are cellular communication networks, which control fundamental cellular processes and provide unique insight into disease progression. In particular, ProNet© allows for the identification of key regulators in these networks, which are then evaluated for their potential to be modified to interrupt the disease process. This provides a pragmatic means of identifying exciting new high-potential drug targets.
``We are pleased to be working with Myriad Genetics, a leader in the proteomics field, for our expansion into the life science arena,'' said Hiroya Taguchi, Chief Executive Officer of the Life Science Group at Hitachi. ``After a thorough review of the U.S. proteomics industry, Hitachi has selected Myriad's ProNet© system because it provides the state of the art, high-throughput technology necessary to launch our entry into the field. We will use it to aid our Japanese collaborators to investigate the biological networks of protein interactions and pathways involved in the progression of disease, define optimal drug targets and thereby accelerate drug development.''
The recent accomplishments toward sequencing the human genome further emphasize the need for technologies capable of identifying the function of genes and assessing which of the estimated 100,000 or more genes represent valuable targets for therapeutic development. Using this highly accurate, robotically controlled process, scientists at Myriad have already identified 19 potential drug targets for the Company and its pharmaceutical collaborators. In addition, internal programs are analyzing over 110 novel protein pathways and have succeeded in identifying pathways that provide promising new approaches to the treatment of HIV and colon cancer. Hitachi is the fifth major international company to initiate a ProNet© alliance to discover drug targets within disease pathways. The Hitachi collaboration brings the total potential value of ProNet© deals to over $170 million. |
