Discovery triggers milestone payment in collaborative agreement with Bayer to
develop novel, automated cervical cancer test system
NEWTON, Mass., Aug. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Scientists at Matritech, Inc.
(Nasdaq: NMPS); (BSE: MPS) have discovered three specific nuclear matrix
proteins (NMPs) associated with cervical cancer. Matritech's discovery
triggers a milestone payment from Bayer Corporation's Diagnostics Division
(formerly Miles Inc.'s Diagnostics Division) under the product development and
marketing option agreement between Matritech and Bayer.
These newly discovered NMPs, like all nuclear matrix proteins, are protected
by claims contained in three issued Massachusetts Institute of Technology
(MIT) patents, which MIT has licensed exclusively to Matritech. In addition,
Matritech has filed 11 patent applications on related NMP advances. As a
result, the Company believes that no other organization can develop or sell an
NMP-based product without a license from Matritech until the expiration of the
claims in these patents.
"Matritech's discovery of heretofore unknown cervical cancer-associated
nuclear matrix proteins is a major milestone in our effort to develop a more
accurate cervical cancer test," said Jing-Je Wu, Matritech's vice president of
research and development.
"The combination of Matritech's patented NMP technology, as a source of
reliable cancer markers, with Bayer's systems development know-how and
marketing muscle is critical to developing a diagnostic system with the
potential to become the most important weapon in identifying cervical cancer
in nearly half a century," added David L. Corbet, Matritech's president.
Under the previously announced agreement, Matritech received initial and
first-milestone payments and is eligible to receive further milestone and
option payments. In return, Bayer has rights to develop new cervical cancer
detection systems based on Matritech's patented nuclear matrix protein (NMP)
technology. If Bayer exercises its marketing option, it will have the
exclusive worldwide right to sell automated NMP-based cervical cancer systems
utilizing raw materials supplied by Matritech.
The traditional Pap smear test is performed primarily to screen for cervical
cancer. A gynecologist uses a tiny spatula or a brush to remove cells from
the cervix, then places them on a slide and sends it to a clinical laboratory
to be examined microscopically. Matritech plans to generate monoclonal
antibodies to identify these identified cervical cancer-target NMPs. These
antibodies will be used with the new NMP-based cervical cancer systems from
Bayer to detect cervical cancer-associated nuclear matrix proteins.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), cancer of the uterine cervix
is the second most common cancer among women throughout the world,
with approximately 500,000 reported new cases each year. If caught early,
cervical cancer can be cured. If undiagnosed and untreated, cervical cancer
leads to death.
The traditional Pap test (smear), developed 50 years ago by George N.
Papanicolaou, M.D., is a screening procedure for the early detection of
precancerous and cancerous conditions of the uterine cervix. The National
Cancer Institute suggests that all women 18 years of age or older obtain a Pap
smear test every year. The Pap smear, which typically consists of 50,000 to
300,000 cervical cells, is examined under a microscope by a cytotechnologist,
a medical professional with special training in cytology (the study of cells)
for signs of abnormality.
Despite the Pap test's success (in the United States, the number of deaths
from cancer of the cervix has decreased following widespread testing begun
about 1964), the subjective nature of the current method of human Pap smear
review makes Pap smears subject to a variable rate of "false negatives"
(abnormal Pap smears classified as normal).
Approximately 4,000 clinical laboratories provide Pap smear analysis in the
United States. Clinical statistics indicate that U.S. laboratories review
more than 50 million Pap smear specimens annually. Laboratories in Asia,
Australia, Canada and Western Europe together process more than 60 million
additional Pap smear specimens annually.
Last month, Matritech received FDA approval to market in the United States its
first NMP-based diagnostic product, the Matritech NMP22(R) Test Kit for
bladder cancer.
All of Matritech's diagnostic tests are based on a fundamental breakthrough in
cell biology originated at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT),
where researchers discovered that Nuclear Matrix Proteins (NMPs) in cancer
cells differ from those in normal cells. The U.S. Patent Office has granted
MIT three patents covering the use of NMPs to detect cancer, and MIT has
licensed these rights exclusively to Matritech. The technologies covered by
these patents are enabling Matritech to develop extremely accurate detection
and monitoring tests.
In addition to the bladder and cervical tests, also in Matritech's pipeline
are products for detecting colorectal, prostate and breast cancers -- all of
which are based on discoveries that the protein composition of the Nuclear
Matrix differs between cancer cells and normal cells. The medical market for
those tests is estimated to be more than $1 billion per year, and because of
its patent position Matritech is expected to have the commercial nuclear
matrix market all to itself.
Bayer Diagnostics, based in Tarrytown, N.Y., is a division of Bayer
Corporation, the U.S. subsidiary of the international chemical and healthcare
company, Bayer AG (Leuerkusen, Germany). The Division is part of the
worldwide Bayer Diagnostics Business Group with almost 5,000 employees in 40
countries and 1994 worldwide sales of approximately $1 billion. Its broad
product range includes blood glucose monitoring systems, urine chemistry
products and automated analyzers for clinical chemistry, immunoassay and
hematology testing.
SOURCE Matritech, Inc.
-0- 8/16/96 /CONTACT: David L. Corbet, President of
Matritech, Inc., 617-928-0820, or Ronald C. Trahan, President of Ronald Trahan
Associates, Inc., 508-651-1180/
(NMPS)
CO: Matritech, Inc.; Bayer Diagnostics ST: Massachusetts IN: MTC SU: PDT
CX 330 11:38
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