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CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Dec. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Cambridge NeuroScience, Inc.
(Nasdaq: CNSI) and Bayer today announced an agreement worth up to $26
million plus royalties to develop Cambridge NeuroScience's recombinant
Glial Growth Factor 2 (GGF2), for the treatment of neurodegenerative
diseases such as Multiple Sclerosis (MS).
(Photo: newscom.com Under
terms of the agreement, Bayer will be responsible for all development
costs, including reimbursement of Cambridge NeuroScience's research
costs for GGF2 and will receive exclusive worldwide manufacturing and
marketing rights to the compound. In exchange, Cambridge NeuroScience
may receive up to $26 million in cash and milestone payments, as well
as royalties on sales of GGF2 products.
"Cambridge NeuroScience and its academic collaborators have generated
impressive data demonstrating the unique mechanism by which GGF2
stimulates the remyelination of nerve cells," said David Lowe, Ph.D.,
head of CNS research at Bayer. "The companies have worked together in
developing a manufacturing process for the molecule."
"We are pleased to be joining forces with Bayer, whose proven
capabilities should accelerate the development of GGF2," said Harry
Wilcox, President and Chief Executive Officer of Cambridge
NeuroScience. "The two teams have worked together in developing a
manufacturing process for the molecule, and in the last year have begun
production of GGF2 in anticipation of initiating clinical trials. The
partnering of GGF2 is in line with our corporate strategy of focusing
our internal efforts on our small molecule and ion-channel blocker
programs."
GGF2, a member of the neuregulin family of growth factors, is known to
stimulate the growth and differentiation of glial cells, the support
cells of the nervous system. These glial cells form the myelin sheath
that insulates nerve cells and is essential for their survival and
proper functioning. In demyelinating diseases such as multiple
sclerosis, the myelin sheath is damaged or lost, leading to the
degeneration of the nerve cells. Experiments in animal models have
demonstrated that GGF2 can stimulate the cell growth necessary to
protect and potentially regenerate the damaged myelin sheath.
Recent data on GGF2 in multiple sclerosis was published in the August
18, 1998 issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The
study, conducted by CNSI in conjunction with Drs. Cedric Raine and
Barbara Cannella at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York,
demonstrated that treatment in an animal model of MS with recombinant
human GGF2 leads to delayed onset and decreased disease severity, as
well as a statistically significant reduction in relapse rate.
Cambridge NeuroScience, Inc. is a neuroscience company engaged in the
discovery and development of proprietary pharmaceuticals focusing on
nerve cell survival. The Company is developing products to treat
stroke and chronic neurodegenerative disorders such as multiple
sclerosis, peripheral neuropathies and other degenerative diseases.
Bayer Corporation is a research-based company with major businesses in
healthcare and life sciences, chemicals and imaging technologies. The
company had 1997 sales of $9 billion and employs 24,000 people. Bayer
Corporation is investing approximately $9 billion in capital
expenditures and research and development in the U.S. operations from
1995 through the year 2000. Bayer Corporation, with headquarters in
Pittsburgh, is a member of the worldwide Bayer group, a $32.4 billion
pharmaceutical and chemical company based in Leverkusen, Germany.
This press release may contain forward-looking statements based on the
current expectations of management. There are certain important
factors that could cause results to differ from those anticipated by
the statements made above, including, but not limited to, the results
of the ongoing pre-clinical studies of GGF2 and the acceptance by
regulatory authorities of the Company's pre-clinical data as a basis
for IND approval.
SOURCE Cambridge NeuroScience, Inc.
-0- 12/21/98 /CONTACT: Harry W. Wilcox, President
and Chief Executive Officer of Cambridge NeuroScience, Inc.,
617-225-0600 or Theresa McNeely, Director of Feinstein Kean Partners
Inc., 617-577-8110 or Rob Kloppenburg of Bayer Corporation,
203-812-6545/
/Photo: newscom.com or
NewsCom, 213-237-5431/
(CNSI)
CO: Cambridge NeuroScience, Inc. ST: Massachusetts IN: MTC SU:
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Regards
A.G. |
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