FYI
SAN DIEGO and SKOKIE, Ill.--(BW HealthWire)--March 2, 1998--
Epimmune Inc., a subsidiary of Cytel Corporation (NASDAQ:CYTL
- news), and G.D. Searle & Co., a wholly-owned subsidiary of
Monsanto Company (NYSE:MTC - news), today announced the
signing of an agreement to develop immune stimulating
products for the treatment of cancer. Under the terms of the
agreement, Epimmune has granted Searle exclusive worldwide
rights to its epitope and PADRE technologies in the cancer
field, excluding rights previously granted for the ex vivo
treatment of cancer in Japan. As a part of the agreement,
Searle has made an additional $10 million equity investment
in Epimmune and Cytel. This follows a $5 million investment
made by Searle in September 1997. The new collaboration could
bring more than $100 million in milestone payments over the
next 10 to 12 years with the successful development and
launch of multiple products, according to Deborah Schueren,
President of Epimmune.
''Utilizing a combination of Epimmune's proprietary
technology and Searle's cytokine technology, we will be
developing truly innovative cancer therapies to induce
targeted immune responses,'' said Schueren. ''This agreement
and significant financial investment are firsts for
Epimmune, putting the Company on solid footing to pursue
further development and commercial application of its
proprietary immune stimulation technology.''
Under the exclusive collaboration, Searle will utilize two
Epimmune technology platforms, cancer-specific epitopes and
PADRE, in its efforts to develop a new class of cancer
therapies designed to produce highly specific immune
responses in patients. Epimmune's immune stimulation
technology provides a means to specifically activate an
individual's cytotoxic T-lymphocytes (CTLs) in order to
induce protective immunity and/or destroy cancer cells.
''Developing cancer therapies is a top priority at Searle and
the collaboration with Epimmune represents an important
component of our
strategy to build a broad cancer franchise based on
innovative products,'' said Richard De Schutter, Searle's
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. ''We expect that the
combination of the two companies' complementary capabilities,
people, and technology will facilitate the development of a
new class of therapeutics for cancer.''
The $10 million investment made by Searle includes a $6.1
million investment in Epimmune Preferred Stock and a $3.9
million investment in Cytel Preferred Stock. Cytel
simultaneously invested $3.9 million in Epimmune Preferred
Stock. Under the terms of the letter of intent signed in
September 1997, Searle has already made a $5 million
investment in Cytel common stock. In addition to
milestone payments, Epimmune will also receive royalties on
future product sales.
Epitopes are the specific chemical groups which are
recognized by immune cells and are responsible for the
activation of immune responses. Using specific epitopes
associated with cancer cells, Epimmune and Searle plan to
activate an individual's cancer-specific CTL cells to provide
a heightened level of immunity directed against cancer cells,
while at the same time preserving normal cells. In addition
to these cancer-specific epitopes, Epimmune has discovered a
potent, synthetic, ''universal'' immunostimulant, known as
PADRE, which provides an important ''co-stimulatory'' signal
when combined with CTL epitopes. The PADRE technology also
has the ability to effectively induce a long-term, high-titer
antibody response when combined with antibody epitopes. |
