XOMA Announces Conference Call to Provide Overview of Business Strategy
Monday November 26, 4:01 pm ET
BERKELEY, Calif., Nov. 26, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- XOMA, Ltd., (NasdaqGM:XOMA - News), a leader in the discovery and development of antibody therapeutics, today will host a conference call and live webcast to discuss its business strategy including an overview of its clinical development plans and 2008 outlook.
The conference call and webcast will take place at 5:00 p.m. Eastern time with XOMA management, and will be followed by a question and answer session. The webcast can be accessed via XOMA's website at xoma.com and will be available for replay until close of business on January 26, 2008. Telephone numbers for the live audiocast are 877-407-9205 (U.S. and Canada) and 201-689-8054 (International). No conference ID is necessary. A replay will be available beginning approximately two hours after the conclusion of the call until close of business on December 10, 2007. Telephone numbers for the replay are 877-660-6853 (U.S./Canada) and 201-612-7415 (International). Two access numbers are required for the replay: account number 286 and conference ID number 262813.
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``We are pleased to provide an overview of the Company's updated business strategy,'' said Steven Engle, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of XOMA. ``Our goal is to continue to develop breakthrough drugs and technologies using XOMA's world-class fully-integrated antibody capabilities. Our strategy is evolutionary, building upon our successes and focusing on the expansion of our emerging proprietary product pipeline. In parallel, we expect to continue maximizing the value of our proven antibody discovery, development and manufacturing capabilities, next generation technologies, and related intellectual property. As in the past, collaborations with our innovative partners remain a core element of our strategy. We will implement a contingency-based development plan that helps reduce costs and risk.''
The primary elements of XOMA's strategy are as follows:
* Focus the company's technologies and resources on advancing the
emerging proprietary pipeline. In the near-term, we will focus on
XOMA 052, an anti-inflammatory antibody, and XOMA 629, an
antimicrobial peptide. These products address multiple indications
which increase the probability of success and potential market
opportunity.
* Expand clinical studies of XOMA 052 from diabetes into three
additional diseases, namely gout, rheumatoid arthritis and systemic
juvenile idiopathic arthritis, based upon the identification of
appropriate dosing levels in the ongoing Phase 1 study in diabetes.
The data and expansion are expected in the third quarter of 2008.
* Begin clinical studies of XOMA 629 in skin surface infections, such
as Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and impetigo.
Based on preclinical studies demonstrating XOMA 629's strong
antimicrobial activity on pathogens on the skin surface and results
of a recently completed study of skin pore penetration in acne, the
program will focus development efforts on topical skin infections.
* Fund development of XOMA 052 and XOMA 629 primarily through
royalties, licensing revenues, collaborations, and biodefense
contracts, and by seeking a partner and reducing spending for
NEUPREX(r), a longer-term program.
* Enhance our clinical pipeline in the mid-term by pursuing quids and
other in-kind trades as part of new and expanded collaborations and
technology agreements, by in-licensing clinical stage products, and
by accelerating the development of our proprietary preclinical
antibody drug programs.
* Continue to pursue biodefense opportunities in the U.S. and key
international markets, including the development of multiple
anti-botulinum neurotoxin monoclonal antibodies and the stockpiling
of antibodies.
* Continue to attract partners like Novartis, Schering-Plough and
Takeda with world-class product opportunities by providing access to
state-of-the-art technology and capabilities.
* Advance the company's antibody technologies and know-how in order to
promote product in-licensing and biodefense efforts, and to grow
licensing revenues from our bacterial cell expression technology,
custom antibody libraries, and other proprietary technologies.
``Recognizing the need to balance risk and reward, our strategy will be implemented in stages, contingent upon success, and we will use outside sources of capital as warranted,'' Engle added. ``We plan to continue to use collaborations to monetize and strengthen our unique assets by jointly undertaking projects. Similarly, we will continue to fund fundamental technology development through these relationships and technology licensing. With this strategy, XOMA plans to build value for shareholders by building on its leadership position in antibody discovery and development, strengthening its technology and intellectual property base and accelerating development of its proprietary pipeline.''
About XOMA
XOMA is a leader in the discovery, development and manufacture of therapeutic antibodies. The Company's expanding clinical and pre-clinical pipeline includes XOMA 052, an anti-IL-1 beta antibody, and XOMA 629, a synthetic peptide compound derived from bactericidal/permeability-increasing protein. XOMA's proprietary development pipeline is funded by revenues generated from the licensing of its antibody technologies, product royalties, development collaborations and biodefense contracts. XOMA's technologies and experienced team have contributed to the success of marketed antibody products, including RAPTIVA(r) (efalizumab) and LUCENTIS(r) (ranibizumab injection). The Company has a premier discovery and development platform that includes seven antibody phage display libraries and XOMA's proprietary Human Engineering and bacterial cell expression (BCE) technologies. More than 50 companies have signed BCE licenses. XOMA's development collaborators include Novartis AG, Schering-Plough Research Institute, Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited, and Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. XOMA has a fully integrated product development infrastructure, extending from pre-clinical science to product launch, and a team of 300 employees at its Berkeley location. For more information, please visit xoma.com. |
