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Gold/Mining/Energy : Inflazyme Pharmaceuticals (T.IZP) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Dick Martin who wrote (1393)	1/29/2000 10:35:00 PM
From: Rob	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1501

Sean et al.: Continue to appreciate your insightful posts. Found this in my travels. Nice to have proof of principle but unfortunate to have Schering as a competitor. Comments? SCHERING-PLOUGH AND CHIROSCIENCE TO DEVELOP NEW ORAL TREATMENTS FOR ASTHMA, INFLAMMATORY DISEASES Madison, N.J., and Cambridge, England, June 27, 1997 ? Schering-Plough Corporation (NYSE: SGP) and Chiroscience Group plc today announced an agreement to develop selective PDE IV inhibitors as oral treatments for asthma and other inflammatory diseases. The collaboration initially will seek to develop well-tolerated oral PDE IV inhibitors that can provide symptomatic relief by preventing or reversing development of airway hyperactivity and inflammation. Under terms of the agreement, Schering-Plough will receive exclusive worldwide rights to all products derived from the collaboration and will have access to all Chiroscience PDE IV inhibitors, including D4418, which is currently being investigated in Phase I clinical studies as a potential treatment for asthma. Chiroscience will receive an upfront license fee, research and development funding, and payments upon reaching certain milestones, up to $38 million. In addition, Chiroscience will receive royalties on all resulting product sales. Further details of the agreement are not being disclosed. "This agreement provides new opportunities to enhance Schering-Plough's leadership in discovering and developing treatments for respiratory disorders," said Jonathan R. Spicehandler, M.D., president of Schering-Plough Research Institute. "We have been very impressed with Chiroscience's progress with the PDE IV inhibitors and look forward to working with them to develop novel therapies for asthma, which is an increasingly widespread and potentially fatal disease." Dr. John Padfield, chief executive officer of Chiroscience, said, "Asthma is a growing problem in the Western world, estimated to affect approximately 14 percent of the population. To be working on our PDE IV inhibitors with a company the calibre of Schering-Plough is exciting and acknowledges the success we have achieved to date with D4418 and other research compounds. This agreement comes at an optimum time for our program, just as planning for large-scale trials in asthma patients is beginning." As part of the collaboration, Chiroscience will research new PDE IV inhibitors and conduct medicinal chemistry and in vitro biological screening. Schering-Plough will conduct secondary in vitro and in vivo studies, and will be responsible for all product development, manufacturing and marketing. The collaboration is based on research conducted by Chiroscience since 1995, which has resulted in 17 patent applications on six novel PDE IV inhibitor families. PDE IV inhibitors selectively inhibit the phosphodiesterase type IV (PDE IV) enzyme, which is involved in the body's inflammatory response. Chiroscience's PDE IV inhibitors have demonstrated encouraging results in pre-clinical models of asthma, showing a marked effect on the disease's four pathological components: inhibition of early-phase and late-phase responses, inhibition of inflammatory cell influx and inhibition of airway hyperactivity. In pre-clinical studies, these inhibitors have shown superior separation between suppression of disease activity and induction of emesis (vomiting), which has been an issue with other drugs in this class. Chiroscience's PDE IV inhibitors also have exhibited anti-inflammatory properties with potential for treating a range of disorders in addition to asthma, such as chronic bronchitis, rheumatoid arthritis and dermatological conditions. Chiroscience is an emerging pharmaceutical company, operating in the United Kingdom and the United States, that uses its diverse technology platform to discover and develop novel medicines for improved health care. Schering-Plough Research Institute is the pharmaceutical research and development arm of Schering-Plough Corporation, a research-based company engaged in the discovery, development, manufacturing and marketing of pharmaceutical and health care products worldwide. A leader in discovering and developing respiratory therapies since the 1940s, Schering-Plough is dedicated to pursuing new and more effective therapies to prevent or block effects of the body's allergic and immunological responses.