Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Announces Drug Discovery Collaboration With Ferring Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
SAN DIEGO, May 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ARNA - News; "Arena") today announced the signing of a research and license agreement with Ferring Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Ferring), a unit of privately-held Ferring Holding S.A., a biopharmaceutical company with operations in 35 countries and products distributed in more than 70 countries worldwide. The collaboration will focus on a validated GPCR target in the field of reproductive biology, a field in which Ferring has a significant development and marketing presence.
Under the terms of the Agreement, Arena will utilize its CART technology to develop a CART-activated version of the receptor, develop a drug-screening assay using this CART-activated receptor and then synthesize and screen focused compound libraries based on structures provided by both companies. The objective of the research effort is to discover novel small molecule compounds with therapeutic potential in the reproductive field. The agreement provides for milestone payments and royalties on sales of products discovered as a result of the collaboration, if any, as well as research and development funding by Ferring.
"Reproductive health is an important and unsatisfied medical need, and we are happy to use Arena's technologies in this specialized area. It is particularly satisfying to be working with Ferring Pharmaceuticals, a global leader in this field," stated Jack Lief, Arena's President & CEO.
Ronald V. Nardi, CSO of Ferring added: "This arrangement with Arena adds a valuable technology to Ferring's drug discovery efforts in our rapidly expanding reproductive medicine research program."
Arena's CART and Melanophore technologies allow for the direct identification of modulators of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCR) in a ligand-independent manner, making the technologies particularly useful with respect to the GPCRs of therapeutic interest in the human genome. Arena has established collaborations with Eli Lilly and Company, Fujisawa Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Taisho Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., TaiGen Biotechnology Co., and other companies. Arena has also initiated "Project Genesis," an internal program aimed at obtaining all of the human GPCRs, identifying the location of these receptors within the human body for purposes of understanding the function of such receptors, and screening each GPCR to identify receptor modulators that form the basis of drug candidates.
Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Such forward-looking statements include statements that are not historical facts, including statements which are preceded by the words "believes," "will," "intends," "plans," "expects," "anticipates," "estimates," and "aims," or similar words. For such statements, Arena claims the protection of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual events or results may differ materially from Arena's expectations. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those stated or implied by Arena's forward looking statements are disclosed in Arena's SEC reports, including, but not limited to, Arena's most recent annual report on Form 10-K. These forward-looking statements represent Arena's judgment as of the date of this release. Arena disclaims, however, any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements.
NOTE: "Arena Pharmaceuticals" and "Arena" are registered U.S. trademarks of the company. "CART" is a trademark of the company. "FERRING is a registered trademark of Ferring BV.
About Arena
Arena's headquarters are located at 6166 Nancy Ridge Drive, San Diego, CA 92121. Arena's telephone number is 858-453-7200. On the Internet, please refer to Arena's website: arenapharm.com or BRL Screening's website: brlscreening.com for further information regarding the CART and Melanophore technologies.
About Ferring
Ferring is a research driven, speciality biopharmaceutical group active in global markets. The company identifies, develops and markets innovative products in the areas of endocrinology, gastroenterology, gynecology, infertility and urology.
In recent years Ferring has expanded beyond its traditional European base and now has operating subsidiaries throughout the world. To learn more about Ferring please visit us at www.ferring.com |
