Monday June 12, 7:30 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
SOURCE: Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Ibis Therapeutics and Agouron Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Announce Drug Discovery Collaboration
CARLSBAD and LA JOLLA, Calif., June 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Ibis Therapeutics (``Ibis''), a division of Isis Pharmaceuticals,
Inc. (Nasdaq: ISIP - news) and Agouron Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of the Warner-Lambert Company
(NYSE: WLA - news), announced today a collaboration for the discovery and development of small molecule drugs against
certain RNA targets. Using Ibis' proprietary technology and Agouron's expertise in small molecule drug discovery, the
collaboration will focus on discovering drugs that bind to RNA.
Agouron will fund collaborative research, pay an upfront technology access fee and make milestone payments totaling $37
million for the first product. In addition, Agouron will develop and commercialize drugs discovered by the collaboration and will
pay Isis royalties on the sales of drugs.
David J. Ecker, Ph.D., Isis' Vice President and Managing Director of Ibis Therapeutics, said, ``Ibis and Agouron possess
complementary expertise in the structural biology of RNA and proteins that, when combined, create a powerful avenue for drug
discovery.'' Dr. Stanley T. Crooke, Isis' Chairman and CEO, said, ``This collaboration is consistent with Ibis' pursuit of
additional collaborations with major pharmaceutical companies in the areas of antiviral, antibacterial, and anticancer drug
discovery.''
Michael D. Varney, Ph.D., Agouron's Corporate Vice President, Head of Research, said, ``Working with Ibis will allow
Agouron to expand the scope of our core technologies in structure-based drug design to a wide array of novel targets. The
partnership with Ibis is an extraordinary opportunity for the two companies to lead the advances in this field.''
Ibis has developed a novel program to discover low molecular weight, orally bioavailable drugs that work by binding to RNA
targets implicated in disease processes. The program is enabled by a technology platform that integrates functional genomics,
informatics and an RNA-focused chemistry program coupled with novel, high throughput mass spectrometry-based screening
methods. Ibis technology development is supported by grants from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
(DARPA) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Additional information about Ibis technology can be
found at www.ibisrna.com.
Isis will conduct a live webcast conference call to discuss this collaboration on Monday, June 12 at 11:30 am Eastern time. To
participate over the internet go to www.streetfusion.com. A replay of the call will also be webcast at this address on an
on-demand basis for up to 90 days.
Isis Pharmaceuticals, based in northern San Diego County, is engaged in the discovery and development of novel human
therapeutic drugs. The company's first product, Vitravene(TM) (fomivirsen), to treat CMV-induced retinitis in AIDS patients, is
being sold in the United States, Europe, Brazil and Switzerland. In addition, Isis has five compounds in human clinical trials.
Phase II studies of ISIS 2302 in an enema formulation for ulcerative colitis and a topical formulation for psoriasis are in
progress. Isis also has three anticancer compounds, ISIS 3521, ISIS 5132 and ISIS 2503, in Phase II studies and ISIS 14803
for the treatment of Hepatitis C is in a Phase I/II trial. The company also has several additional compounds in preclinical
development. Isis has a broad and proprietary patent estate of over 600 issued and allowed patents worldwide and has been
recognized as one of the top ten holders of gene patents issued in the U.S. In addition, Isis has created two divisions focused
on more broadly capitalizing on Isis' expertise in RNA. Ibis Therapeutics is a division focused on the discovery of small
molecules that bind to RNA. GeneTrove is Isis' division that is focused on gene functionalization and uses antisense to assist the
pharmaceutical industry in validating and prioritizing potential gene targets.
Agouron Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Warner-Lambert Company (NYSE: WLA - news), is an
integrated pharmaceutical company committed to the discovery, development, manufacturing, and marketing of innovative
therapeutic products engineered to inactivate proteins that play key roles in cancer, AIDS, and other serious diseases. Agouron
employs more than 1200 people of whom approximately 800 are engaged in research and development.
This press release contains forward-looking statements pertaining to Ibis Therapeutics, a division of Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Such statements are subject to certain risk factors and uncertainties, particularly those inherent in the process of discovering,
developing and commercializing drugs that can be proven to be safe and effective for use as human therapeutics and the
endeavor of building a business around such potential products. Actual results could differ materially from those projected in
this release. As a result, the reader is cautioned not to rely on these forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or
contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, those described in Isis' Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year
ended December 31, 1999, which is on file with the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission.
Vitravene(TM) is a trademark of Novartis AG.
Agouron© is a registered trademark of Agouron Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
SOURCE: Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. |
