IMNR NEWS OUT!
To: AHM (854 )
From: David Furstenberg Thursday, Jul 9 1998 9:01AM ET
Reply # of 861
Schering-Plough and Immune Response in Agreement to Develop Hepatitis Gene Therapy Products
PR Newswire - July 09, 1998 08:45
MADISON, N.J., and CARLSBAD, Calif., July 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Schering- Plough Corporation (NYSE: SGP) and The Immune Response Corporation (Nasdaq: IMNR) today announced a research collaboration and option agreement to combine Immune Response's proprietary GeneDrug(TM) gene delivery technology with the interferon alfa-2b gene and other Schering-Plough proprietary genes to develop gene therapy products for the treatment of hepatitis B and C, and other diseases.
Under terms of the agreement, Schering-Plough may obtain rights to existing and future gene therapy technology developed by Immune Response in conjunction with type-1 interferon genes. Under terms of the initial preclinical research agreement, The Immune Response Corporation could receive approximately $5 million in initial fees, reimbursement expenses and technical milestone payments related to the delivery of the interferon alfa-2b gene for the treatment of hepatitis B and C.
As part of the agreement, Schering-Plough has the option to license Immune Response's gene delivery system for additional proprietary Schering-Plough genes. If Schering-Plough exercises its option to utilize Immune Response's delivery system for additional proprietary genes, total payments to Immune Response could exceed $75 million in additional licensing fees and milestone payments. The agreement also provides for Schering-Plough to pay royalties on future product sales.
"Schering-Plough is a market leader in alpha interferon therapy," said Dennis J. Carlo, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer of The Immune Response Corporation. "Immune Response now has two separate collaborations in place using our GeneDrug delivery technology. We believe this collaboration between Immune Response and Schering-Plough continues to validate the technological approach and further strengthens our gene therapy program. We hope that the results of this collaboration will ultimately prove beneficial to individuals afflicted with hepatitis," Carlo said.
The Immune Response Corporation is a biopharmaceutical company based in Carlsbad, California, developing immune-based therapies to induce specific T cell responses for the treatment of HIV, autoimmune diseases and cancer. The company is conducting clinical trials for its immune-based therapies for HIV, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, multiple sclerosis, colon cancer and brain cancer, and preclinical studies for melanoma and prostate cancers. In addition, the company is developing a targeted delivery technology for gene therapy that is designed to enable the intravenous injection of genes for delivery directly to the liver. The company's gene therapy program is currently focused on diseases of the liver and is in preclinical studies for the treatment of hemophilia and hepatitis.
Schering-Plough is a research-based company engaged in the discovery, development, manufacturing and marketing of pharmaceutical and health care products worldwide.
THE IMMUNE RESPONSE CORPORATION DISCLOSURE NOTICE: This news release contains forward-looking statements. Actual results could vary materially from those expected due to a variety of risk factors, including whether Schering-Plough will terminate the research and collaboration agreement, whether Schering-Plough will exercise its option to utilize Immune Response's delivery system for additional proprietary genes, whether any potential product will enter clinical development, the uncertainty of successful completion of clinical trials, and those risks set forth from time to time in The Immune Response Corporation's SEC filings, including but not limited to its report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 1997. The company undertakes no obligation to publicly release the result of any revisions to these forward-looking statements which may be made to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.
SOURCE Schering-Plough Corporation; The Immune Response Corporation
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