SAN DIEGO--(BW HealthWire)--May 8, 2002--Applied Molecular Evolution, Inc. (AME) (Nasdaq: AMEV - news) announced today that it has entered into an agreement to engineer an antibody therapeutic for Centocor, Inc. The goal of the agreement is for AME to apply its AMEsystem(TM) technology to optimize the function of the antibody Centocor provides to AME. Centocor, a Johnson & Johnson company, will be responsible for the future development and commercialization of the antibody as a human therapeutic.
Under the terms of the agreement, AME will receive an up-front signing fee, additional payments if milestones are achieved and royalties on future sales of any products resulting from the agreement. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"AME's agreement with Centocor is our eighth corporate agreement for a total of 15 biotherapeutic optimization projects," said William D. Huse, M.D., Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of AME. "A trend toward considering AMEsystem protein optimization for biotherapeutic candidates is evidenced by the quality of our clients, exemplified by Centocor, a leading therapeutic antibody company."
Applied Molecular Evolution, Inc. (AME) is a leader in applying directed molecular evolution to improve healthcare by optimizing and developing human biotherapeutics. Directed molecular evolution is a process for optimizing genes and proteins for specific commercial purposes. Since its inception, AME's principal focus has been on applying its proprietary AMEsystem(TM) technology platform to human biotherapeutics, the largest market for directed molecular evolution. Biotherapeutics, or biopharmaceuticals, are protein pharmaceuticals such as antibodies, cytokines, hormones and enzymes. AME uses its proprietary technology to develop improved versions of currently marketed, FDA-approved biopharmaceuticals as well as novel human biotherapeutics... |
