MARCONI AND OGS FORM JOINT VENTURE TO PROVIDE PROTEOMICS DATA AND HOSTING SOLUTIONS
Major initiative in pharmaceutical bio-informatics as
proteomics and communications converge
London - June 15, 2001 - Marconi (NASDAQ and London: MONI), a global provider of innovative communications solutions, and Oxford GlycoSciences Plc (LSE: OGS, NASDAQ: OGSI) announce today that they have formed a joint venture, to be known as Confirmant Limited ("Confirmant"), which will integrate and leverage Marconi's broadband data transmission and hosting capabilities with OGS' proteome databases, in particular the Protein Atlas of the Human Genome (see separate press release issued by OGS today), and its data analysis software tools.
OGS and Marconi believe that Confirmant will be the first company to provide the pharmaceutical industry with unambiguous information on the genes which encode for proteins. It is expected to have a major impact on the discovery and validation of disease targets for the development of new drugs. In the longer term, the aim is to apply these technologies to patient diagnosis and treatment.
Through Confirmant, customers will gain substantial computing power, the ability to send their data in a secure pipe, and then mix, integrate, and manipulate them in a secure environment. Real-time delivery and the ability to manipulate data are firsts in the pharmaceutical research industry.
Joint Venture Structure
Confirmant will be a 50/50 joint venture company and will have initial funding of £30 million contributed by Marconi and OGS equally in cash. Confirmant will pay OGS £5 million for exclusive marketing rights to its intellectual property on specific proteome databases, including the Protein Atlas. OGS will also license its data analysis software in consideration for a cash payment from Confirmant of £1.5 million. In addition, Marconi will invest £10 million in OGS through a subscription for 645,162 new OGS ordinary shares at £15.50 per share.
OGS will be contracted by Confirmant to build and extend the content of the databases, in particular the completion of the foundation database, the Protein Atlas. The project is expected to generate revenues of up to £22.5 million over the next three years for OGS, depending on results.
Confirmant will operate as an independent company, with a separate management and sales team to be recruited, and is expected to generate its first revenues in early 2002. Revenue streams will comprise hosting, subscription and pay-per-use fees for access to the databases.
Confirmant's three business lines
Managed IT solutions / hosting for biotechnology companies, provided under long term contracts. With advances in biotechnology increasingly driven by computational power and storage capacity, Confirmant will provide outsourced, real-time, broadband IT solutions and hosting to satisfy the increasing demand among biotechnology companies for these services.
Access to proteome databases, including the Protein Atlas and OGS' data analysis software. These databases will be made available on a subscription basis to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, as well as to medical researchers, via secure, fast, real-time broadband networks.
Online diagnostics. In the longer term, Confirmant plans to use OGS' proteomics information and a broadband, secure network provided by Marconi to provide online diagnostic services to physicians and healthcare facilities on a pay-per-use or subscription fee basis. The aim will be to provide a more accurate, patient-specific and cost effective method of disease diagnosis and therapy.
The Protein Atlas of the Human Genome
OGS has already undertaken six years' research to develop and assemble the technologies and processes of proteomics which underlie the building of the Protein Atlas. When completed, it will be a comprehensive database that will, for the first time, use protein sequence information to identify unambiguously all protein-coding genes in the human genome.
Until now, it has been difficult to design drugs based on genomic information only. Since proteins are the real effectors of health and disease, understanding the relationship between genes and the proteins they encode is critical to the development of novel medicines. The Protein Atlas will provide an important link between genomics and the functional analysis of biological systems.
As the next logical step beyond the Human Genome Project (HUGO), the Protein Atlas will provide researchers with a powerful tool to interpret genomic data, especially in the areas of target identification, validation and protein diagnostics. Unlike other genomics databases, the Protein Atlas will be continuously updated in real-time with the latest information available to each subscriber through secure broadband network connections.
The Protein Atlas is the central database to be distributed and commercialised through Confirmant. It is expected to be substantially completed in the next 24 months. First access sales could begin in early 2002.
"The data intensive nature of pharmaceutical research today requires an efficient way to integrate an ever-expanding quantity of biological information," said Michael Kranda, OGS' Chief Executive Officer. "In order to succeed, this disparate information must be integrated to be of real value in drug discovery. Confirmant will offer the convergence of genomics and proteomics data with Marconi's secure, state-of-the-art data delivery capabilities and we believe it will provide a unique and valuable tool for the scientific research community."
Mr. Kranda added: "OGS will become Confirmant's first outsourcing customer for computing and hosting services, utilising the joint venture as a cost- efficient solution for its own internal operational needs. By tapping the computational power of the joint venture, OGS will further its IT capacity and exploit its expanding wealth of proteomics data, all without distracting us from our core activity of drug discovery and development."
"Marconi's broadband solutions, highly secure encrypted communications, in combination with the unique databases of OGS, will combine to provide the pharmaceutical industry with new models for drug discovery and, in time, diagnosis," said John Mayo, Deputy Chief Executive of Marconi. "In partnership with OGS, Marconi will help create real value by developing a new communications-enabled business model, which has the potential to transform the economics of doing business for biotechnology research companies, pharmaceutical companies and healthcare providers."
A presentation for analysts will take place today at 9.30 am at Financial Dynamics, Holborn Gate, 26 Southampton Buildings, London WC2. The presentation and Q&A will be recorded for a webcast which will be available on Marconi's website at www.marconi.com and OGS' website at www.ogs.co.uk later today. Please call Mo Noonan on 020 7831 3113 for further details.
A press briefing will be held at 11am at Financial Dynamics at the address above.
About Marconi plc
Marconi plc is a global company with over 50,000 employees. Marconi has research and development facilities in 19 countries, manufacturing operations in 16 countries, and serves customers in over 100 countries. It delivers innovative communications solutions which transform the economics of doing business, for Networks, Wireless and Enterprise customers. Marconi plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange and Nasdaq under the symbol MONI. Additional information about Marconi can be found at www.marconi.com.
About OGS
OGS has developed a proprietary proteomics technology for the comprehensive study of proteins, integrating proteomics with genomics to create an innovative drug discovery platform. OGS' proteomics collaborations with major pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies include Bayer, Pioneer Hi- Bred/Du Pont, Medarex, GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer. OGS has technology development collaborations with Applera, Cambridge Antibody Technology, Packard BioScience, Incyte Genomics and the Institute for System Biology.
OGS has drug research discovery programmes in cancer, infectious disease and glycolipid storage disorders. OGS' most advanced drug candidate, VevescaT, is currently undergoing clinical trials for the treatment of Gaucher disease. VevescaT has received "fast track" designation from the FDA and has been granted orphan drug status by both the FDA and the European Commission for the treatment of Gaucher disease. OGS expects to file a new drug application for the oral treatment of Gaucher disease in mid-2001. VevescaT is an investigational drug and has not received approval for marketing in any country.
This press release contains forward-looking statements with respect to products, partners, customers, future growth and other matters. Please refer to the Form 20-F report and Form 6-K reports filed by Marconi plc with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission for a discussion of risks that could cause actual results to differ materially from such statements.
Copyright 2001 Marconi plc. All rights reserved. All brands or product names are trademarks of their respective holders.
Marconi Contacts
Name: Mel Foster / Alasdair Jeffrey
Title: Media Relations
Phone: +44 (0) 207 306 1729 / +44 (0) 207 306 1330
Email: mel.foster@marconi.com alasdair.Jeffrey@marconi.com
Copyright © 2001 Marconi Corporation plc. All rights reserved.
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