The first deal (that I'm aware of) is struck. Eos is getting promiscuous (they already have a deal with MEDX) -
SAN DIEGO, May 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Xenerex Biosciences, a subsidiary of Avanir Pharmaceuticals (Amex: AVN - news), announced today that it has entered into an antibody generation agreement with Eos Biotechnology. The research collaboration provides for Xenerex to generate fully human monoclonal antibodies to three cancer-target antigens provided by Eos. Eos will evaluate the antibodies generated by Xenerex for potential development of therapeutic treatments for the selected cancers. One of the pioneers in the effective use of the human genome sequence, Eos has discovered many new disease-specific drug targets in several major cancers.
``This collaboration represents an important third-party validation of the potential of our proprietary technology in human antibodies,'' said J. David Hansen, president and chief operating officer of Xenerex Biosciences. ``We are very pleased to have the opportunity to work with an established genomics and bioinformatics company such as Eos. The agreement serves as an important step in broadening the commercialization of our platform for application in multiple diseases.''
``The establishment of research collaborations that utilize our antibody generation expertise is a key element of Avanir's 2001 growth plan,'' said Avanir's president and chief executive officer Gerald J. Yakatan, Ph.D. ``The agreement between Xenerex and Eos represents the achievement of an important milestone that is part of that plan.''
``This agreement with Xenerex allows us to collaborate with a company having a novel and unique platform for generating human antibodies,'' stated David Martin, Eos' president and chief executive officer. ``Eos is committed to a high throughput approach to developing therapeutic antibodies against our proprietary, highly-specific disease related targets. Acquiring access to Xenerex technology is important for ensuring success in our drug development process.''
Under terms of the agreement, Xenerex will receive research fees for the use its unique monoclonal antibody technology to generate fully human antibodies and could receive license fee and milestone payments, plus royalty payments on sales of products developed by Eos from the antibodies. Eos will be responsible for manufacturing, product development and marketing of any products developed through the agreement. The financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
Eos Biotechnology, Inc., a privately funded biotechnology company in South San Francisco, California, develops, applies and integrates a variety of high- throughput genomics, bioinformatics and biological processes for the creation of novel therapeutic and diagnostic products. Eos technologies are being applied to rapidly and cost-effectively build a pipeline of novel and medically important therapeutics and diagnostics in the areas of oncology, angiogenesis and inflammation, with initial product development efforts focused in the area of therapeutic antibodies. Further information about Eos and its programs is available at eosbiotech.com ... |
