Biosite Announces Collaboration Agreement With Amgen; Amgen to access the Medarex/Biosite Trans-Phage Technology(SM)
SAN DIEGO, March 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Biosite® Incorporated (Nasdaq: BSTE - news) today announced a multi-year collaborative agreement under which Biosite will utilize Omniclonal® phage display technology, and potentially Trans-Phage Technology(SM) to generate high-affinity antibodies to targets provided by Amgen Inc. Trans-Phage Technology combines Biosite's Omniclonal phage display technology with Medarex's HuMAb-Mouse®. Amgen will use the antibodies in its discovery research.
Under the agreement, Amgen will provide Biosite with targets for a period of up to three years. Biosite will receive development fees and may receive annual maintenance fees. If products are successfully developed and commercialized by Amgen, Biosite will also receive milestone fees and royalties from products resulting from the joint research efforts. Biosite will also retain certain diagnostic rights to targets in the collaboration.
``We value this collaboration with Amgen and are pleased to report that we have already generated antibodies to an undisclosed Amgen target using our new antibody expression technology,'' said Gunars Valkirs, Ph.D., vice president, Biosite Discovery.
In June 2000, Biosite and Medarex announced the formation of an alliance aimed at accelerating drug research via Trans-Phage Technology. This high throughput method of creating fully human antibodies combines the immunological power of Medarex's HuMAb-Mouse® with the speed of Biosite's Omniclonal phage display technology. The companies believe that the combination of Omniclonal and HuMAb-Mouse technologies enables rapid production of high-affinity antibodies with substantial diversity, which can be used to validate genomics targets and identify promising drug candidates, thereby potentially enhancing product development.
Medarex is a biopharmaceutical company developing monoclonal antibody-based therapeutics to fight cancer and other life-threatening and debilitating diseases. Medarex has assembled a broad platform of patented technologies for antibody discovery and development, including the UltiMAb(TM) Human Antibody Development System(SM) for the creation of high-affinity, fully human antibodies; T-12 Development(SM) offering the potential to move from target to trial in approximately 12 months; and Trans-Phage Technology(SM) combining high throughput screening with fully human antibody development. Medarex creates and develops fully human antibodies for itself and others, offering a full range of antibody development capabilities, including pre-clinical and clinical manufacturing services. For more information about Medarex, visit its web site at www.medarex.com .
A leader in the drive to advance diagnosis, Biosite Incorporated is a research-based company dedicated to the discovery and development of novel protein-based diagnostic tests that improve a physician's ability to diagnose debilitating and life-threatening diseases. The Company combines integrated discovery and diagnostics businesses to access proteomics research, identify proteins with high diagnostic utility, develop and commercialize products and educate the medical community on new diagnostic approaches that improve health care outcomes. Biosite's Triage® brand rapid diagnostic tests are used in 50 percent of U.S. hospitals and in 40 international markets. Information on Biosite can be found at www.biosite.com ... |
