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Boston Biomedica and the University of North Carolina Renew and Expand TheirResearch and License Agreements on Drugs Targeting HIV/AIDS and Other Diseases
April 29, 1999 11:54 AM
WEST BRIDGEWATER, Mass., April 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Boston Biomedica, Inc. BBII announced today that it has signed new Sponsored Research (SR) and License Agreements with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill that build on BBI's HIV drug discovery program and expand the Company's rights into other therapeutic areas. Under the SR Agreement, Boston Biomedica will increase its funding of Dr. K.H. Lee's natural products laboratory at UNC over a period of up to five years. Additionally, BBI receives first rights to new compounds discovered during the collaboration that target HIV or other diseases. The new License Agreement renews Boston Biomedica's worldwide license rights to several families of potential HIV drugs and expands these rights for additional indications. The terms of the Agreements were not disclosed.
Dr. K.H. Lee, Kenan Professor of Medicinal Chemistry and Director of the Natural Products Laboratory in the School of Pharmacy at UNC, is one of the world's foremost natural product chemists. He has collaborated with Boston Biomedica for several years to identify natural products and their derivatives that inhibit HIV replication. The focus is on plants with a history of successful therapeutic applications in traditional medicine. This approach has proven very productive, resulting in the identification of three families of inhibitors that are the subject of five issued U.S. patents for which BBI holds the exclusive license. Several of the more potent compounds are currently being evaluated for suitability to enter human clinical trials in the near future. Dr. Lee said: "Remarkable progress has been made during the past five years, and we look forward to expanding our close collaboration with Boston Biomedica under the new SR Agreement. I am confident that our proven ability to identify HIV inhibitors based on natural products will translate into a successful program targeting other diseases as well."
"Natural products offer a huge, largely untapped potential for drug discovery" said Dr. Graham Allaway, Boston Biomedica's Vice President of Drug Discovery. "We are fortunate to be collaborating with one of the leaders in the natural products field. As a result, we now have several potent HIV inhibitors in development that have novel properties compared to drugs currently on the market. The new SR and License Agreements provide the framework for us to build upon to enhance this already productive relationship further."
Boston Biomedica Inc. is a worldwide manufacturer and provider of proprietary quality control products for use with IVD test kits for the detection, analysis and monitoring of infectious diseases, including AIDS, Hepatitis, Lyme Disease and ToRCH. The Company's products are used by clinical and research laboratories, blood banks, and IVD manufacturers to help ensure the accuracy of infectious disease test results through the routine monitoring of test performance. The Company also manufactures diagnostic test kit components and laboratory instrumentation, provides specialty laboratory testing and contract research services, and has significant R&D investments in pressure cycling technology (PCT) and drug discovery.
Statements contained in this news release that state the Company's or management's intentions, hopes, beliefs, expectations or predictions of the future are ''forward-looking'' statements. It is important to note that the Company's actual results could differ materially from those projected in such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ from those projected include the possibility that due to unforeseen technical and other difficulties Boston Biomedica may not be able to develop its HIV drug candidates and other therapeutic products into commercially successful products, or may not successfully raise the capital necessary to develop the HIV drug candidates and other therapeutic products, or such development may take longer than currently expected. Additional information concerning factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements is contained from time to time in the Company's SEC filings, including but not limited to the Company's report on Form 10-K for the period ended December 31, 1998. Copies of this document may be obtained by contacting the Company or the SEC.
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SOURCE Boston Biomedica, Inc.
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