Diversa Receives Milestone Payments From Syngenta for Identification of Novel Protein Therapeutic Candidates
Tuesday September 14, 6:30 am ET
First Pharmaceutical Product Leads Delivered Under Broad Collaboration Initiated in 2003
SAN DIEGO, Sept. 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Diversa Corporation (Nasdaq: DVSA - News) today announced that the company has identified several lead protein therapeutic candidates under its research and product development agreement with Syngenta (NYSE: SYT - News), resulting in milestone payments of $300,000 from Syngenta. Diversa will begin early preclinical studies of the lead candidates in collaboration with Syngenta. The lead candidates are part of a broader protein therapeutic program initiated in 2003 in collaboration with Syngenta, comprising multiple projects.
"Diversa successfully identified these novel lead candidates less than a year after initiation of our protein therapeutic program with Syngenta, which further demonstrates Diversa's ability to rapidly identify protein-based product candidates for pharmaceutical and other high-value applications," said Dr. Jay M. Short, President and Chief Executive Officer of Diversa. "Diversa is now in a position to add significant value to these protein therapeutic leads in collaboration with Syngenta by leveraging Diversa's preclinical capabilities that have been established to advance our own pipeline. This is another step in Diversa's strategy to complement drug discovery with development capabilities," continued Dr. Short.
About Diversa's Collaboration with Syngenta
In February 2003, Diversa entered into a broad research and product development collaboration with Syngenta focused on new plant science applications as well as selected antibody and other biopharmaceutical products. Under the collaboration, Diversa is entitled to receive a minimum of $118 million in research and development funding over the initial seven-year term and is eligible to receive milestone payments and royalties for product development and commercialization. In July 2004, Diversa announced an agreement that strengthened this collaboration and provided for the continued development and commercialization of novel animal feed enzymes. Protein-based product development programs under the collaboration include animal feed and agricultural processing enzymes, as well as biopharmaceutical products such as antibodies and other protein therapeutics... |
