GLIA :-)))) Abgenix Licenses From Gliatech Antibody Product Candidates for Cardiovascular
and Inflammatory Diseases; IND Planned for 2002
Business Editors & Medical/Health Writers
FREMONT, Calif. & CLEVELAND--(BW HealthWire)--Nov. 2,
2001--Abgenix, Inc. (Nasdaq:ABGX) and Gliatech Inc. (Nasdaq:GLIA)
today announced an agreement that provides Abgenix with exclusive
worldwide rights to human monoclonal antibody therapies against the
complement protein properdin as potential treatments for
cardiovascular and inflammatory diseases. Abgenix has generated lead
antibody product candidates for Gliatech under a January 2000
collaboration and will now assume responsibility for development and
commercialization. Abgenix anticipates filing an Investigational New
Drug (IND) application to the FDA for an anti-properdin antibody
product candidate next year.
Under the terms of the agreement, Abgenix obtains an exclusive
license to develop and commercialize anti-properdin antibody therapies
for all indications and will be responsible for clinical development,
regulatory activities, manufacturing, marketing and sales. Gliatech
will receive from Abgenix an upfront license fee of $1.5 million, a
commitment for a future equity investment, potential milestone
payments for multiple clinical indications, research funding for two
years and royalties on net sales of any resulting products.
Collectively, these non-royalty payments could reach approximately $40
million over the term of the contract if a product is successfully
commercialized.
"An anti-properdin antibody represents a promising approach to the
treatment of acute inflammatory conditions which result, for example,
from cardiopulmonary bypass surgery, heart attacks and stroke," said
R. Scott Greer, chairman and chief executive officer of Abgenix.
"Gliatech has done a great deal of pre-clinical work in this field and
has generated an important intellectual property position. We are
excited to move toward clinical development of the first product
candidate."
"Our collaborative work with Abgenix over the past two years has
led to the identification of promising clinical candidate antibodies,"
said Steven L. Basta, president of Gliatech. "We have worked closely
in this collaboration, and the XenoMouse(R) technology of Abgenix has
been an important tool to create antibodies targeted at the properdin
antigen that our research team identified in the inflammatory pathway.
We are pleased that Abgenix has chosen this antibody among its
portfolio of opportunities to move toward commercialization."
Gliatech has been involved in properdin research and its role in
modulating inflammatory response for several years and recently
received notice of allowance on its patent covering the antigen as a
therapeutic target for inflammatory diseases. Agents which block
properdin function may play a unique role in modulating the
alternative complement pathway in a manner that avoids broad based
immune suppression.
Properdin is a protein of the alternative complement pathway,
which is a component of the normal host immune system. When the
complement pathway is inappropriately triggered, tissue damage may
result. Such is the case with acute damage, for example from
stimulation of the complement pathway by cardiopulmonary bypass
surgery. Shutting down this inappropriate response may thus provide an
important anti-inflammatory therapy for patients undergoing such
procedures. In chronic diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis, the
immune system aberrantly recognizes the patient's own tissue and
mounts an autoimmune response. Activation of the complement pathway in
such a disease is thought to propagate this attack. An anti-properdin
antibody may inhibit this cascade and thus limit tissue damage.
In January 2000, Abgenix and Gliatech established a research
collaboration to generate fully human antibodies against properdin
using Abgenix's XenoMouse(R) technology. The companies have discovered
monoclonal antibodies to properdin that are in vitro and ex vivo
inhibitors of the complement alternative pathway. By selectively
blocking the alternative pathway, the negative consequences of
inappropriate complement activation can be attenuated without
inhibiting other key elements of the normal host immune defense. In
pre-clinical models, anti-properdin antibodies reduced damage to heart
tissue in models of reduced blood flow and effectively blocked
complement activation in models of cardiopulmonary bypass surgery.
Abgenix is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development
and commercialization of human monoclonal antibody therapies for a
variety of diseases. The company's antibody technology platform, which
includes XenoMouse(R) and XenoMax(TM) technologies, enables the rapid
generation and selection of high affinity, fully human antibody
product candidates to disease targets appropriate for antibody
therapy. Abgenix leverages its leadership position in human antibody
technology by building a large and diversified product portfolio
through the establishment of licensing arrangements with multiple
pharmaceutical, biotechnology and genomics companies and through the
development of its own internal proprietary products. For more
information on Abgenix, visit the company's website at
www.abgenix.com.
Gliatech Inc. is engaged in the discovery and development of
biosurgery and pharmaceutical products. The biosurgery products
include ADCON(R)-L and ADCON(R)-T/N and ADCON(R) Solution, which are
proprietary, resorbable, carbohydrate polymer medical devices designed
to inhibit scarring and adhesions following surgery. Gliatech's
pharmaceutical product candidates include small molecule drugs to
modulate the cognitive state of the nervous system and proprietary
monoclonal antibodies designed to inhibit inflammation.
For Abgenix: Statements made in this press release about Abgenix's
technologies, product development activities and collaborative
arrangements other than statements of historical fact, are forward
looking statements and are subject to a number of uncertainties that
could cause actual results to differ materially from the statements
made, including risks associated with the success of clinical trials,
the progress of research and product development programs, the
regulatory approval process, competitive products, future capital
requirements and the extent and breadth of Abgenix's patent portfolio.
Please see Abgenix's public filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission for information about risks that may affect Abgenix.
For Gliatech: Certain statements in this press release constitute
"forward-looking statements" that are subject to risks and
uncertainties which may cause the actual results of the Company to be
different from expectations expressed or implied by such
forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited
to, uncertainty of market acceptance of the Company's products, the
uncertainty of the continued development of monoclonal antibodies and
other risk factors detailed in the Company's SEC filings.
--30--nj/sf* dc/sf
CONTACT: Abgenix, Inc.
Ina Cu, 510/608-4662
or
Gliatech Inc.
Adam D. Gridley, 216/831-3200 ext. 3019
KEYWORD: CALIFORNIA OHIO
INDUSTRY KEYWORD: BIOTECHNOLOGY PHARMACEUTICAL MEDICAL PRODUCT
MARKETING AGREEMENTS
SOURCE: Abgenix
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