This is a small deal. But I was just thinking, last night, that this is the perfect time for any cash-rich company to diversify into biologicals/pharmaceuticals. We can't look to Japan for leadership, but who could step up apart from Novartis, Amgen, etc.??......
CellExSys, Inc. and ITOCHU Corporation Announce Cell Therapy Partnership
Agreement to Form CellExSys Japan KK
Thursday October 10, 9:00 am ET
SEATTLE, and TOKYO, Oct. 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- CellExSys, Inc. (a majority-owned subsidiary of Targeted Genetics Corporation (Nasdaq: TGEN - News)) and ITOCHU Corporation announced today they have agreed to form an alliance in the field of cellular therapy. Under the terms of the letter of agreement, CellExSys and ITOCHU plan to form a Japanese joint venture company that will be responsible for the development, sales, marketing and manufacturing of CellExSys' potential cell therapy products in Japan. Additional terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Subject to the terms of the agreement, ITOCHU has made an undisclosed upfront payment to CellExSys.
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"We are very honored to announce our partnership with ITOCHU Corporation," said David M. Schubert, President of CellExSys. "As one of the 20 largest companies in the world, we are confident that ITOCHU has the intellectual, financial, logistical and human resources to work closely with us as we work together to build a successful personalized medicines business in Japan. We believe that CellExSys' cell therapy technology has significant potential and we plan to begin clinical trials in hepatitis B as early as 2003 in the United States with additional programs in several cancer indications over the next few years. Over the past year in working together to validate the market opportunity in Japan, we have established a very close working relationship with ITOCHU. We look forward to a long, productive and profitable relationship with them as we realize the potential of CellExSys' technology in Japan and around the world."
ITOCHU Corporation, the 17th largest global company according to Fortune, is an integrated and diversified company with interests in multiple industries. The Company has been aggressively pursuing a variety of opportunities in the biotechnology and life science industries. Said Y. Wakabayashi, General Manager, Organic Chemical Department at ITOCHU, "We believe that establishing CellExSys Japan KK is both good business and good medicine. Cell therapy may represent a very promising approach to treating a number of important diseases that cause significant mortality in Japan and throughout the world. The CellExSys technology is exciting to us not only for its therapeutic potential but also for the broad commercial opportunities it will generate. We are proud to be a part of bringing this very exciting technology to Japan."
"We established CellExSys as a subsidiary because we believed it was an effective way for our shareholders to derive value from our portfolio of cell therapy assets," said H. Stewart Parker, President and Chief Executive Officer of Targeted Genetics and Chairman of the Board of CellExSys. "I am very pleased with the progress the CellExSys team has made to date in establishing the necessary infrastructure to support their objectives and in advancing their product development programs toward the clinic. This partnership is further validation of both the underlying cell therapy technology as well as the team and the infrastructure we have in place to develop novel therapies for important infectious diseases and cancer. This initial partnership is a milestone event in the history of CellExSys."
CellExSys, Inc. was established in late 2000 as a subsidiary of Targeted Genetics Corporation, with a focus on commercializing a robust portfolio of cell therapy assets that are outside of Targeted Genetics strategic focus. The Company's patient-specific technology platform has yielded promising results in preclinical studies in a variety of viral diseases and cancers. The company's core technology, the Rapid Expansion Method (REM), was originally developed at The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, WA and is licensed exclusively to CellExSys. For more information about CellExSys, please visit our website at www.cellexsys.com.
ITOCHU Corporation is an integrated and diversified Japanese company with interests in textiles, machinery, aerospace, information technology, multimedia, metals, energy, chemicals, forest products, food, retail and financial services. It maintains over 140 offices around the world and owns over 650 subsidiaries and affiliates. ITOCHU's sales last year reached 11.4 trillion JPY. ITOCHU, which has a strong presence in IT and in the food industry, has made genomic and agribio-business development a key priority for the 21st century; the company has been aggressively promoting bio-business activities, including investment in biotechnology venture capital funds and bio-venture companies. As part of its biotechnology investment strategy, ITOCHU recently announced that it has invested $20 million in funds managed by MPM Capital.
NOTE: This release contains forward-looking statements regarding Targeted Genetics. These statements involve current expectations, forecasts of future events regarding CellExSys and other statements that are not historical fact. Inaccurate assumptions and known and unknown risks and uncertainties can affect the accuracy of forward-looking statements. Actual results could differ materially from expectations for a number of reasons, including the inability of Targeted Genetics to secure additional funding for any of its programs or projects and the other risks described in the section entitled "Factors Affecting Our Operating Results, Our Business and Our Stock Price" in Targeted Genetics' report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2002. You should not rely unduly on these forward-looking statements, which apply only as of the date of this release. Targeted Genetics undertakes no duty to publicly announce or report revisions to these statements as new information becomes available that may change Targeted Genetics' expectations.
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Source: Targeted Genetics Corporation |
