Wednesday August 8, 3:32 pm Eastern Time
Press Release
SignalGene Collaborators Identify: A Gene Which Protects Against Breast Cancer
MONTREAL, CANADA--SignalGene is pleased to announce that an important discovery in the area of breast cancer genetics has been made by one of the Company's teams of scientific collaborators, led by Dr. François Rousseau of the Research Unit in Human and Molecular Genetics of St. François d'Assise Hospital of CHUQ. The discovery is related to the identification of a gene that protects women against breast cancer.
Dr. Rousseau and collaborators, using a population genetics approach applied to the Quebec founder population, examined variants of a known gene in over 700 and found that some women carry a form of the gene that significantly decreases their risk of developing breast cancer. The results of this study are published in the prestigious scientific journal Cancer Research.
Under an agreement with Laval University, SignalGene has exclusive commercial rights to this discovery, which is protected by international patent applications. ``Dr. Rousseau and his collaborators have succeeded in identifying a gene that has a major impact on the risk of breast cancer in women'', stated Dr. Michael Dennis, President and Chief Executive Officer of SignalGene. ``This important discovery opens new avenues for the development of predictive tests and preventative therapies for breast cancer, and clearly illustrates the Company's core strategy of capturing proprietary information on disease genetics to fuel our product pipeline. This new breast cancer gene forms the basis for internal efforts by SignalGene scientists to dissect the biology underlying the genetic risk and to design novel small molecule drug candidates that have potential as next-generation breast cancer therapies'', concluded Dr. Dennis.
As announced previously, Dr. Rousseau, Dr. Dennis and representatives of the CHUQ will discuss the findings at a press conference in Quebec City at 2:00 p.m. on Thursday August 9th 2001, followed immediately by a conference call at 4:00 p.m.
SignalGene is an integrated genomics drug discovery company committed to creating value for its shareholders through the discovery, development and commercialization of high-quality drug candidates for human therapy. The Company's technologies combine genomics-based target discovery and computer-assisted drug design to generate novel small molecule drug candidates. Internal programs are focused in the area of steroid hormone signaling with proprietary targets and compounds in the areas of breast cancer, osteoporosis and obesity. The shares of the Company are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol SGI. |
