pretty ugly, but here is the latest.......
Patents, Proprietary Technology and Trade Secrets
The Company relies upon patents and trade secrets to protect its
proprietary technologies. As of March 15, 2000, the Company was the assignee of
two issued U.S. patents covering aspects of its yeast technology and was the
exclusive worldwide licensee of two issued U.S. patents for use in drug
discovery. In addition, as of such date, the Company had filed or held licenses
to 23 other U.S. patent applications, as well as related foreign patent
applications.
The Company has obtained from Duke University an exclusive worldwide
license to two issued U.S. patents and U.S. and international patent
applications covering hybrid yeast cell technologies. These patents and patent
applications are directed to hybrid yeast cells engineered to express human G
Protein-coupled receptors and to methods of their use. In consideration for such
license, the Company pays a minimum annual royalty and is required to make
payments upon the achievement by the Company of certain drug development
milestones and to pay royalties (net of minimum royalties) on the sale of drugs
by the Company which were initially identified by the Company through the use of
the licensed technology. In lieu of milestones and royalty payments on sales of
drugs by sublicensees initially identified by sublicensees through the use of
the licensed technology, the Company pays an annual fee (net of the minimum
annual royalty) for each sublicense granted by it to such technology.
The Company has also filed patent applications based on inventions by
Cadus's scientists directed to hybrid yeast cells and yeast cells engineered to
produce both peptide libraries and human proteins that can function in certain
signal transduction pathways of the engineered yeast cell. These applications
seek to protect aspects of the Apex(TM) and SSCL(TM) technologies. The Company
has also filed patent applications directed to methods, constructs and reagents,
including engineered cells, for discovering ligands to orphan receptors.
Peptides, and mimetics thereof, which have been discovered using the SSCL(TM)
technology are also covered in these patent applications both as compositions
and for their therapeutic use.
In November 1999, the Company terminated its exclusive worldwide
license to issued U.S. patents relating to MEKK enzymes and U.S. and
international patent applications in the field of signal transduction in human
cells that it had obtained from National Jewish Center for Immunology and
Respiratory Medicine.
During 1999, the Company ceased providing to Massachusetts Institute of
Technology ("M.I.T.") research funding for the LivingChipTM, a technology that
was being co-developed by the Company and M.I.T. to miniaturize and automate the
Company's hybrid yeast cell technology. In March 2000, the Company's license to
M.I.T.'s LivingChipTM technology was terminated.
The Company has granted certain rights under several of its patents and
patent applications relating to its yeast-based technologies to Solvay
Pharmaceuticals, OSI and SmithKline Beecham.
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