Friday April 27, 9:44 am Eastern Time
Press Release
SOURCE: Variagenics, Inc.
Variagenics Announces Issuance of U.S. Patent Involving Cancer Cell
Research Methods
Intellectual Property Integral to Company's Strategy to Apply Pharmacogenomics to the
Development of Cancer Drugs and Diagnostics
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., April 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Variagenics, Inc. (Nasdaq: VGNX - news), a leader in
pharmaco-genomics, the science that correlates individual genetic variance with drug response, today announced that the
United States Patent and Trademark Office has issued U.S. Patent No. 6,200,754, entitled ``Inhibitors of alternative alleles of
genes encoding products that mediate cell response to environmental changes.'' This patent, the Company's third cancer-related
patent, is integral to Variagenics' strategy of applying pharmacogenomics to the development of individualized drugs and
diagnostics for cancer and other non-malignant proliferative disorders.
The Company believes that pharmacogenomics applied to cancer-drug development will increase the chances of prescribing
patients optimal first- line therapy at the onset of diagnosis. Variagenics' goals are to develop genotyping tests that predict
therapeutic response by identifying patients who respond well to, or may suffer toxic side effects from, specific treatments. By
providing these specific genotyping services and encouraging drug developers to integrate the assessment of genetic effects on
therapeutic response into their oncology development programs, Variagenics is facilitating the possibility to speed clinical
development time and provide physicians potentially time-saving analysis alternatives to trial and error prescription practices.
In the area of pharmacogenomics for cancer, Variagenics employs various methods to identify genetic markers, including:
analysis of loss of heterozygosity (LOH), analysis of genotype or haplotype, and gene expression profiling. This newly issued
patent covers inventions relating to LOH, a process which results in the loss of genetic material in cancer cells. Variagenics
believes LOH observed in essential and conditionally essential genes can contribute to the process of developing targeted
cancer therapeutics that enable the selective elimination of cancer cells without toxicity to normal cells.
``This patent reinforces our ability to leverage our knowledge of the correlation between genetic variation and cancer into
solutions for cancer therapeutics and related diagnostic products,'' said Taylor J. Crouch, Variagenics' President and CEO.
``We believe that drugs and diagnostics derived using this methodology would be broadly applicable for treating major cancers
as well as certain non-malignant proliferative disorders.''
``This and previously issued patents have covered inventions that focus on genetic variances in essential and conditionally
essential genes,'' said David Housman, Ph.D., scientific founder and Chairman of the Board of Variagenics and Professor of
Biology at the Center for Cancer Research of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. ``Each time we receive a patent in this
area, we validate our methods for applying pharmacogenomics to diagnostic and therapeutic solutions for cancer.''
Vincent P. Stanton, MD., Vice President and Principal Scientist at Variagenics added, ``We believe the claims and methods
described in these patents, which involve allele-specific inhibitors, will help in the process of identifying appropriate anti-cancer
agents and the patients most likely to benefit from such agents.''
Background on Patent
U.S. Patent No. 6,200,754 (the ``'754 patent'') is the third in a series of patented inventions that involve selective inhibition of
variant forms of genes. The claims in the '754 patent cover the identification of an allele- specific inhibitor active on a
``conditionally essential gene'' subject to loss of heterozygosity in a cancer. The term heterozygous refers to a cell containing
two different copies of a gene (i.e., the sequence of the paternal and maternal copy of the same gene differ). A previously
issued patent, U.S. Patent No. 5,702,890 (the ``'890 patent'') involved allele-specific inhibitors of ``essential genes.'' In the
latter, essential genes were defined as genes essential and beneficial to cell growth and viability. The '754 patent broadens the
genes described in the '890 patent to include genes that, due to particular environmental factors, become activated and thus
necessary or beneficial to the growth, proliferation or survival of a cell. These genes are important to include as such genes can
provide enhanced sensitivity of cancer cells to a variety of different anti-proliferative treatments, including radiation and
administration of various pharmaceutical compounds and agents.
Variagenics, inc. applies its pharmacogenomic technologies to the discovery, development and commercialization of
individualized drugs and companion molecular diagnostic products. The Company identifies clinically important genetic
variations, including single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), the most common form of genetic variability, and haplotypes
(groups of SNPs), and uses this information to improve and enhance drugs in development and to identify and validate new
drug targets. Variagenics is leveraging its expertise and technologies, including its new NuCleave(TM) genotyping and
haplotyping analysis platform, into solutions for pharmaceutical companies seeking to optimize therapeutic outcomes for
patients.
For more information please visit the Company's website at variagenics.com
This press release may contain forward-looking statements, including statements regarding the effect of pharmacogenomics on
therapeutic outcomes and the delivery of healthcare and the role that the Company will play in the field of pharmacogenomics.
Such statements are based on management's current expectations and are subject to certain factors, risks and uncertainties that
may cause actual results, events and performance to differ materially from those referred to or implied in such statements. These
risks are identified in Variagenics' registration statement on Form S-1, Registration No. 333-33558, filed with the Securities
and Exchange Commission and declared effective on July 20, 2000 and Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended
December 31, 2000. The Company does not intend to update any of the forward- looking statements after the date of this
release to conform these statements to actual results or to changes in our expectations, except as required by law.
SOURCE: Variagenics, Inc. |
