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Biotech / Medical : AXYS Pharmaceuticals Inc. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: john psomas who wrote (441)	5/24/2000 9:13:00 AM
From: nigel bates	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 455

May 24, 2000-- Axys Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq:AXPH - news) announced today that its collaboration partner Bayer AG has decided to discontinue development of BAY 44-3428. Bayer AG had previously selected BAY 44-3428 for development as an oral treatment for asthma based on the demonstrated in vivo efficacy of the compound in primate models of asthma. Bayer's decision to discontinue development of BAY 44-3428 was based on its view that the toxicological properties of this specific compound precluded advancement into clinical development. Axys and Bayer AG are in discussions about the future of their collaboration in tryptase inhibition in light of this decision. Today's announcement does not affect Axys' Phase II clinical trial of APC 2059, a tryptase inhibitor currently being developed for the treatment of acute inflammatory bowel disease. APC 2059, which is a second generation tryptase inhibitor developed in the collaboration with Bayer AG, is from a chemically distinct class of compounds from the third generation compound BAY 44-3428, and does not demonstrate the toxicological properties that were found with BAY 44-3428. Axys previously demonstrated proof of principle for tryptase as a target in inflammation in two Phase II trials of a first generation compound, APC 366. Those trials, completed in the United Kingdom, demonstrated that APC 366 could alleviate symptoms associated with allergen-induced asthma, with statistically significant results in the reduction of the late airway response as measured against both baseline and placebo.