XOMA Retakes Control of BPI from Zephyr Sciences
Friday July 15, 4:48 pm ET
XOMA Remains Committed to Development of BPI in Multiple Indications
BERKELEY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 15, 2005--XOMA Ltd. (Nasdaq:XOMA - News) today announced its decision to terminate its exclusive worldwide license agreement with Zephyr Sciences, Inc. (Zephyr) for the research, development and commercialization of products related to bactericidal/permeability-increasing protein (BPI), including its NEUPREX® product.
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"BPI's excellent safety profile continues to be an attractive feature in clinical use as evidenced by its ongoing evaluation in both pediatric and adult indications," said John L. Castello, chairman, president and chief executive officer of XOMA. "XOMA remains committed to the future development of BPI and is actively seeking new partnerships with private and public companies and in the public sector."
"Although Zephyr has devoted both time and effort toward the advancement of BPI, they have not met the financing requirements of our agreement and this led to our decision to terminate the relationship," added Castello.
BPI
BPI (bactericidal/permeability-increasing protein), a human protein found in certain white blood cells (neutrophils), is one of the body's natural defenses against bacterial infections. A recombinant version of the molecule, rBPI, has been a major drug development platform for XOMA. NEUPREX®, the first of several drugs XOMA developed from BPI, is an injectable formulation of a modified recombinant fragment (rBPI(21)) of the molecule. BPI was discovered by Peter Elsbach, MD, and Jerrold Weiss, PhD, at New York University (NYU) School of Medicine. XOMA has been in collaboration with NYU since 1991 to extend and apply BPI-related research to commercial development of pharmaceutical products.
XOMA's BPI-related patent portfolio includes more than 85 issued US patents, more than 20 US patent applications and corresponding foreign patents and applications directed to novel compounds and compositions, manufacturing methods, formulations, and therapeutic uses of BPI protein products. The portfolio includes a number of patents exclusively licensed from NYU School of Medicine and Incyte Corporation.
About XOMA
XOMA develops for commercialization antibody and other protein-based biopharmaceuticals, with a therapeutic focus on cancer, immune disorders and infectious diseases. XOMA has a royalty interest in RAPTIVA®, a product marketed worldwide that was developed in collaboration with Genentech. The Company pipeline includes proprietary products along with collaborative product development programs. For more information about XOMA's product pipeline and antibody product development capabilities and technologies, please visit XOMA's website at xoma.com. |
