InSite Vision Announces Signing of an Option Agreement for the Therapeutic Rights of the Glaucoma Gene
ALAMEDA, Calif.--(BW HealthWire)--April 26, 1999--InSite Vision Incorporated (AMEX:ISV), today announced the signing of an option agreement with the University of California for the therapeutic rights to the issued and pending TIGR gene patents and applications.
InSite Vision has previously licensed the diagnostic/prognostic rights to these patents and is developing various glaucoma diagnostic products and disease management tools using the TIGR technologies. The new option agreement will extend this effort to include therapeutic products for the treatment and prevention of glaucoma based on TIGR gene technology.
"This is an important step in our program -- the development of gene-based glaucoma treatments. This new option agreement permits InSite Vision to start developing drugs that could treat glaucoma at the genomic level, probably with a strategic partner yet to be determined," said chief executive officer Dr. S. Kumar Chandrasekaran. "Together with our important TIGR protein-lowering drug, ISV-205, which is in Phase II clinical trials, we now have the opportunity to develop an array of potential drugs aimed at treating, for the first time, the cause of glaucoma." ISV-205 is being developed jointly with Pharmacia & Upjohn under a product licensing and equity investment agreement.
Glaucoma is the leading cause of preventable blindness in the United States, affecting 2 to 3 million people. It is believed to be caused by defects in the drainage mechanism of the eye, causing eye pressure to build up and eventually resulting in optic nerve damage. Current drug treatments for glaucoma are directed at the symptomatic relief of pressure in the eyes and not at the cause of the disease. Consequently, many glaucoma patients lose their vision despite multiple drug treatments and surgeries.
TIGR gene was originally reported in Science, a highly regarded scientific journal, to cause primary open-angle glaucoma. Since then, studies have linked the gene to other forms of glaucoma, such as exfoliative glaucoma and normal tension glaucoma.
InSite Vision is an ophthalmic product development company with programs based on three platforms: genetic research for diagnosis and prognosis of glaucoma; the development of new and improved ophthalmic drugs using the proprietary DuraSite(R) eyedrop-based delivery system; and the non-surgical delivery of drugs to the back of the eye.
This press release contains, among other things, certain statements of a forward-looking nature relating to future events or the future business performance of InSite Vision. Such statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties including the results of preclinical and clinical studies and determinations by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, as well as the Risk Factors listed from time to time in the company's SEC filings including but not limited to its Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 1998.
CONTACT:
InSite Vision
Sandra Heine, 510/865-8800 (Company Contact)
or
Core Communications Group, Inc.
Robert Ferri, 415/331-7003 (SF)(Investor Contact)
rferri@nextwavestocks.com
Joshua Z. Levine, 516/487-8322 (NY) (Investor Contact)
jzlevine@nextwavestocks.com |
