Thursday June 22, 7:31 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
SOURCE: Lexicon Genetics Incorporated
Lexicon Genetics Announces Expansion of Corporate
Collaboration With Millennium Pharmaceuticals
THE WOODLANDS, Texas, June 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Lexicon Genetics Incorporated (Nasdaq: LEXG - news) announced today
the expansion of its multi-year collaboration with Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: MLNM - news). The expanded
agreement triples the size of the initial numbers of knockout mouse models that Lexicon will generate for Millennium.
``Knockout mice are increasingly being utilized by major companies in the biopharmaceutical industry as a key resource for the
acceleration of drug discovery programs. We believe that knockout-validated genes will become the gold standard for all drug
development in the post-genome era,'' said Randall B. Riggs, Sr. Vice President, Business Development of Lexicon Genetics.
``We are pleased to expand our collaboration with Millennium, one of the leaders on the forefront of developing
genomics-based medicines for the future.''
Under the original agreement, announced in July 1999, Lexicon Genetics will generate a significant number of knockout mice for
Millennium based on gene targets provided by Millennium over a three-year period. The expanded agreement commits
Millennium to obtain certain numbers of knockout mice from Lexicon during each year of the collaboration. Additional terms of
the arrangement were not disclosed.
Millennium, a leading biopharmaceutical company, applies its comprehensive and integrated science and technology platform
for the discovery and development of breakthrough therapeutic and predictive medicine products, with a goal of delivering
personalized medicine. Through the industrialization of this gene-to-patient platform, Millennium is also striving to accelerate
the process of drug discovery and development. Headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Millennium and its affiliates
currently employ more than 1,000 people.
Lexicon Genetics Incorporated is a leader in defining the functions of genes for drug discovery using large-scale knockout
mouse technology. Lexicon has invented high-throughput gene trapping technology to discover thousands of genes and
expand its OmniBank (R) library of tens of thousands of knockout mouse clones. The Company uses an integrated platform of
functional genomic technologies to accelerate large-scale analysis of mammalian gene function for drug discovery. Lexicon's
Internet exchange, www.lexgen.com, enables researchers worldwide to access the OmniBank library and form collaborations
with Lexicon to discover pharmaceutical products based on genes and knowledge of their functions. Lexicon has established
functional genomics and OmniBank alliances with many pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies including American
Home Products, The R.W. Johnson Pharmaceutical Research Institute, G.D. Searle & Co., Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals,
N.V. Organon, ZymoGenetics/ Novo Nordisk, DuPont Pharmaceuticals and Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Additional
Company information is available at www.lexicon-genetics.com.
Statements in this press release that are not strictly historical are ``forward-looking'' statements as defined in the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking
statements due to the risks and uncertainties that exist in Lexicon's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The
Company disclaims any obligations to update the statements in this press release.
SOURCE: Lexicon Genetics Incorporated |
