BLUE HP dark horse holding INGN refines its deal with Aventis again. The big change: Aventis invests in INGN instead of INGN investing in GenCell.
>>AUSTIN, Texas, July 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Introgen Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: INGN - news) announced today that it has received $25 million from Aventis Pharma AG, the pharmaceutical company of Aventis, through the purchase of non-voting preferred stock of Introgen, which preferred stock is convertible into common stock of Introgen at approximately $10.67 per share. The investment is part of the restructuring of Introgen's collaboration with Aventis Pharma. The transaction differs from the terms of the letter of intent announced in April 2001 in that Introgen has decided to forego a 5% equity interest in the proposed Aventis spin out, Gencell, in favor of increasing the Aventis investment in Introgen to $25 million. As a result of the transaction, Introgen now has all of the worldwide commercial rights to p53-based gene therapy products developed during the 6-year collaboration, including INGN 201. INGN 201 is in pivotal Phase III clinical trials for the treatment of head and neck cancer, Phase II clinical trials for lung cancer and Phase I clinical trials for a number of other cancer indications.
INGN 201 uses a patented technology to target the p53 gene to kill cancer cells and suppress tumor growth through multiple molecular mechanisms. INGN 201 represents the largest clinical program in the gene therapy field and has been the subject of twenty clinical studies in North America, Europe and Asia.
``Most of the transition work has already been completed and Introgen is now managing the clinical development of INGN 201,'' said David G. Nance, Introgen's president and CEO. ``We have expanded our clinical and regulatory team to complement our in-house commercial manufacturing infrastructure. With approximately $60 million in cash we are moving aggressively to complete the clinical development of INGN 201. Introgen also continues to progress with its other programs including INGN 241, in Phase I clinical trials for the treatment of solid tumors, INGN 251 in preclinical development, as well as additional projects in areas outside of oncology, such as our collaborations with the University of California in rheumatoid arthritis and the Texas Heart Institute in cardiovascular disease.''<<
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Cheers, Tuck |
