Tuesday July 31, 7:45 am Eastern Time
Press Release
SOURCE: Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Rigel and Novartis Initiate Oncology Drug Discovery
Collaboration
Companies Expand Scope of Existing Agreement
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., July 31 /PRNewswire/ -- Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
(Nasdaq: RIGL - news) today announced that it has initiated a collaboration with Novartis
Pharma AG to discover and develop small molecule compounds that inhibit angiogenesis
(blood vessel growth) as a therapeutic approach to treating cancer. The initiation of this
research project triggers an upfront cash payment of $4 million to Rigel, which will also
receive milestone and certain royalty payments relating to the development and
commercialization of any therapeutics, diagnostics or vaccines resulting from the
collaboration. In exchange, Novartis will retain exclusive worldwide rights to develop and
market products in those areas relating to targets discovered under the collaboration.
In May 1999, the companies agreed to collaborate on five different five-year projects, two
to be conducted at Rigel and three to be conducted at Novartis. The companies have now
agreed to modify the original agreement and will conduct the angiogenesis project at Rigel,
bringing to three the total number of projects at Rigel.
``We are extremely proud of the work we have done internally on this program and are
delighted that it was attractive to Novartis to the extent that they decided to revise the scope
of their collaboration with us,'' said James M. Gower, Rigel's President and Chief Executive
Officer. ``The fact that most of our partners have, at this point, strengthened their
collaboration with Rigel is a tremendous validation of our combinatorial biology approach
and a testament to the caliber of our staff.''
Rigel and Novartis currently have four drug discovery programs underway. Three projects,
in the areas of autoimmune disease, transplant rejection and now the cancer program, are
being conducted at Rigel, while the respiratory program is being conducted at Novartis. The
fifth and final project is to be defined by Novartis before the end of this year.
Angiogenesis, defined as the growth of new blood vessels, normally occurs during embryonic development. In adults, it is
generally limited to the natural processes of wound healing and menstruation, but may also be triggered by certain pathological
conditions, such as cancer, where the growth and spread of tumors requires nourishment from new blood vessels surrounding
the growing cancer. This angiogenesis program aims to identify novel drug targets that inhibit the growth of new blood vessels,
which starves tumors of the nutrients they need to grow and spread.
Rigel uses post-genomics combinatorial biology technology to discover novel drug targets. Post-genomics combinatorial
biology technology is designed to identify molecules which play an important role in regulating a human cell's response to
disease by testing a very large number of proteins in a very large number of cells to determine which proteins will change the
cell's response to the disease. Rigel currently has programs in asthma/allergy, autoimmunity, transplant rejection, rheumatoid
arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, chronic bronchitis, cancerous tumor growth and hepatitis C. In addition to its proprietary
programs, Rigel has research and product development collaborations with Pfizer Inc., Cell Genesys, Inc., Janssen
Pharmaceutica N.V. and Novartis Pharma A.G. Rigel is based in South San Francisco, California.
Statements included in this press release that are not historical in nature are ``forward-looking statements'' within the meaning of
the ``safe harbor'' provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements include those regarding
future projects with Novartis. Rigel cautions readers that forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements due to the
risks and factors identified in Rigel's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2000 and other filings
made with the Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time. The information in this press release is current as of its
release date. Rigel does not intend to update the forward-looking information contained in this press release.
SOURCE: Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. |
