Agreement With Amylin - New Strategic Opportunities For MDS
Pharmaceutical Services
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TORONTO, Aug. 7 /CNW-PRN/ - MDS Panlabs, part of newly-formed MDS
Pharmaceutical Services, announced an agreement with Tripos, Inc. and Amylin
Pharmaceuticals to screen for drug candidates for a range of therapeutic
targets including diabetes, obesity and dyslipidemia.
MDS Panlabs and Tripos will provide Amylin with access to 100,000
chemical compounds from the Optiverse(TM) designed, diverse screening library
(patent pending) over a one-year period. Amylin will pay MDS Panlabs and
Tripos an up-front fee, plus milestones and royalties based on progress of
candidates through development. This library has demonstrated its capability
to generate lead compounds in key drug discovery projects worldwide, with
commercial sales of Optiverse in excess of $14 million (US dollars) since its
introduction in September 1995.
``This is the first of many risk-sharing agreements between MDS Panlabs
and pharmaceutical clients,'' said Henry Pan, M.D., Ph.D., President of MDS
Pharmaceutical Services. ``Additional imaginative agreements of this kind
between MDS Pharmaceutical Services and pharmaceutical and biotechnology
companies can be expected in the future.''
``This business model is very attractive to use, as we have a fully
integrated research and development structure in place to evaluate active
leads emerging from screening,'' said Maurizio Denaro, M.D., Executive
Vice-President and Chief Technical Officer of Amylin Pharmaceuticals. ``MDS
Panlabs and Tripos are helping us expedite the drug discovery process,'' he
added.
Tripos, Inc. of St. Louis, Missouri (NASDAQ:TRPS), delivers discovery
informatics products, chemical libraries, and services for new compound
research.
Amylin Pharmaceuticals of San Diego, California (NASDAQ: AMLN), is
focused on developing novel medicines for treating metabolic disorders. The
Company has pioneered research of the hormone amylin, which is believed to
play an important role in glucose control and is missing or deficient in
millions of people with diabetes. The Company is diversifying its development
pipeline within the field of metabolic disorders including obesity.
MDS Pharmaceutical Services was formed in 1996 and currently has annual
revenues in excess of $100 million, over 900 employees and operations on three
continents including the countries of Canada, the United States, England,
Ireland, Germany, Switzerland, Taiwan and China. Member companies include MDS
Panlabs, MDS Harris, MDS Harris-Asia, MDS Neo-Pharm and MDS Clinical Trials.
MDS Inc. (TSE:MHG.A, MHG.B) is Canada's largest technology-based health
and life sciences company. With operations around the world and fiscal 1997
estimated revenues of over $900 million, MDS focuses on innovative and
cost-effective technologies, services and products for the prevention,
diagnosis and management of diseases. Further information about the company is
available at the MDS Web site at mdsintl.com.
SOURCE MDS Inc.
-0- 8/7/97
/CONTACT: Wilma Jacobs., MDS Inc., 416-675-6777, ext. 2422,
wjacobs(at)mdsintl.com; Cinda Orr, MDS Pharmaceutical Services, 402-476-2811/ |
