Ribozyme Pharmaceuticals and Geron Corporation Enter Agreement
For Manufacture of GRN163 for Clinical Trials
BOULDER, Colo., July 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --
Ribozyme Pharmaceuticals Inc. (RPI) (Nasdaq: RZYM) today announced that RPI
and Geron Corporation (Nasdaq: GERN) have entered into an agreement under
which RPI will manufacture GRN163, Geron's lead anti-cancer drug. GRN163 acts
by inhibiting telomerase, an enzyme which facilitates indefinite cell
division, an important factor in the development of cancers. This new
agreement follows the successful process development collaboration between
Geron and RPI, previously announced in December of 2001 for the scale up and
optimization of the manufacturing process. Pre-clinical studies of GRN163
have demonstrated anti-tumor activity in animal models of glioblastoma (brain
cancer), prostate cancer, lymphoma, and multiple myeloma.
"We are pleased to move forward to the manufacturing stage of our
collaboration with Geron," said Marvin Tancer, Chief Financial Officer and
Vice President of Operations, Ribozyme Pharmaceuticals. "Leveraging RPI's
expertise in nucleic acid technology through collaborations with companies
like Geron supports our business strategy by generating near-term revenues and
capitalizing on our technology and expertise."
About Ribozyme Pharmaceuticals
RPI, at www.rpi.com , is a global leader in the development of ribozyme-
based biotherapeutics and diagnostic tools for the treatment and monitoring of
significant human diseases. Ribozymes are the product of Nobel Prize-winning
research and are synthetically engineered to act as "molecular scissors"
capable of cleaving target RNA in a highly specific manner, blocking gene
expression and preventing production of unwanted proteins. In addition to its
therapeutic and diagnostic pipeline, RPI is leveraging its broad-based nucleic
acid technology for applications in genomics, proteomics, and individualized
therapeutics. To date, RPI has spun out and licensed technology to atugen AG
which is focused on target validation and last year announced a licensing
agreement with Archemix, Inc. for the use of allosteric ribozymes in drug
discovery and optimization and environmental monitoring. RPI holds equity
positions in both companies and retains certain residual rights. RPI is
currently engaged in negotiations with third parties concerning other possible
strategic alliances.
RPI is partnered with Chiron Corporation for the development and
commercialization of ANGIOZYME(R), an anti-angiogenic ribozyme designed to
inhibit the growth of new vasculature to supply blood to tumors and prevent
tumor growth and metastasis. ANGIOZYME has been studied in metastatic breast
cancer and is currently being evaluated in a Phase II clinical trial for
metastatic colon cancer. RPI's anti-hepatitis C virus ribozyme,
HEPTAZYME(TM), is in Phase II clinical development in a multi-center trial in
the U.S. Other RPI development projects include, HERZYME(TM), an anti-HER2
ribozyme for treatment of breast and other cancers in Phase I development and
HepBzyme(TM), a ribozyme for the treatment of hepatitis B. The HERZYME
program is being developed by an RPI/Elan business venture, Medizyme
Pharmaceuticals Ltd. In addition, RPI is collaborating with Geron Corporation
utilizing the expertise of each company to accelerate process development for
Geron's lead telomerase inhibitor, GRN163. RPI also entered into an agreement
with Fujirebio, Inc., the largest domestic diagnostic company in Japan, to
develop and commercialize ribozyme-based clinical diagnostic products.
ANGIOZYME(R) is a registered trademark of Ribozyme Pharmaceuticals Inc.
HEPTAZYME(TM), HERZYME(TM) and HepBzyme(TM) are trademarks of Ribozyme
Pharmaceuticals Inc.
This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks
and uncertainties, and actual events or results may differ materially. These
risk factors include actions by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration,
technological advances, ability to obtain rights to technology, ability to
obtain and enforce patents, ability to commercialize and manufacture products
and general economic conditions. These and additional risk factors are
identified in the Company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings,
including the Forms 10-K and 10-Q and in other SEC filings.
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SOURCE Ribozyme Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
/CONTACT: Marvin Tancer, Chief Financial Officer of RibozymePharmaceuticals,
Inc., +1-303-449-6500; or Sean Collins, Partner, CCG,Public/Investor Relations,
+1-818-789-0100, for Ribozyme Pharmaceuticals,Inc./
/Web site: rpi.com / |
