Diversa Achieves Milestone Under XOMA Antibody Agreement
Wednesday June 1, 6:30 am ET
For Generation of High-Affinity Antibody Product Candidate
SAN DIEGO and BERKELEY, Calif., June 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Diversa Corporation (Nasdaq: DVSA - News) and XOMA Ltd. (Nasdaq: XOMA - News) today announced the achievement of a milestone under their therapeutic antibody generation and optimization and license agreement for the successful generation of an antibody that binds with sub-picomolar affinity to an undisclosed XOMA target. The milestone achievement will result in an undisclosed payment to Diversa.
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"This milestone further demonstrates Diversa's ability to generate high-quality antibody product candidates through its technologies," said Jay M. Short, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer of Diversa Corporation. "We are also pleased to report this therapeutic antibody candidate has shown an affinity that is rare and far exceeds the original design goals."
"This accomplishment highlights the ability of our two companies to work together to rapidly generate a superior antibody that has shown exceptional potency," said John L. Castello, XOMA's chairman, president and chief executive officer. "We believe this therapeutic antibody candidate has the potential to be an important addition to our pipeline and has great potential as a commercially attractive product for the treatment of autoimmune-inflammatory diseases."
Under the terms of the agreement announced in January 2004, Diversa utilizes its proprietary evolution technologies to generate and optimize therapeutic antibodies against targets identified by XOMA, and is entitled to receive undisclosed payments for the achievement of certain milestones as well as royalties on future sales.
About Diversa
Diversa Corporation is a leader in applying proprietary genomic technologies for the rapid discovery and optimization of novel protein-based products. The Company is directing its integrated portfolio of technologies to the discovery, evolution, and production of commercially valuable molecules with agricultural, chemical, industrial, and pharmaceutical applications. Diversa has established alliances and joint ventures with market leaders, such as Bayer Animal Health, Cargill Health and Food Technologies, DuPont Bio-Based Materials, GlaxoSmithKline, Medarex, Merck, and XOMA. In addition, the Company has formed a broad strategic relationship with Syngenta AG, a world-leading agribusiness company. Diversa has commercialized products both independently and in collaboration with strategic partners and licensees. Additional information is available at Diversa's website: diversa.com.
About XOMA
XOMA develops for commercialization antibody and other protein-based biopharmaceuticals to treat cancer, immune disorders and infectious diseases. The Company pipeline includes proprietary products along with collaborative product development programs with Chiron Corporation, Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and Aphton Corporation. The Company also has a royalty interest in RAPTIVA®, a product marketed worldwide that was developed under a collaboration arrangement with Genentech, Inc. For more information about XOMA's product pipeline and antibody product development capabilities and technologies, please visit XOMA's website at xoma.com. |
