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Biotech / Medical : Biotransplant(BTRN) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: scaram(o)uche who wrote (898)	4/30/2001 12:20:45 PM
From: Harold Engstrom	Respond to of 1475

biz.yahoo.com Inex drug delivery system in partnership with Elan TORONTO, April 30 (Reuters) - Inex Pharmaceuticals Corp. (Toronto:IEX.TO - news) said on Monday it had formed a joint venture with Irish pharmaceutical group Elan Corp. Plc (NYSE:ELN - news) to develop and eventually commercialize its delivery system for cancer drugs, sending its stock up more than 25 percent. ADVERTISEMENT The partnership with Elan involves the creation of a joint venture company that will hold the worldwide marketing rights to Inex's drug delivery technology, Onco TCS. Elan will fund the partnership to the tune of C$60 million ($39 million) in a complex multiyear formula and buy C$7.5 million worth of Inex common shares, bringing the total number of Inex shares outstanding to 26.6 million, Inex said in conference call with analysts on Monday. ``This brings us the financial resources and profit-sharing we were seeking,'' said Inex chief executive David Main. If and when the drug delivery system finds its way to pharmacy shelves, Inex will initially earn ``preferential'' profits that, over time, will see the two companies take an equal share of profits. ``Most significantly, Elan and Inex will share profits equally from commercialization...this structure gives us greater control,'' added Main. Vancouver-based Inex is in late-stage human clinical trials of its Onco TCS delivery system for the treatment of relapsed, aggressive non-hodgkins lymphoma cancer. The TCS or transmembrane carrier systems, when combined with cancer drugs, has shown in the laboratory to prolong blood circulation and extend the amount of drug released at the cancer site, Inex said in a statement. Inex said it expects to file a new drug application with U.S. regulators in late 2002 or early 2003 for the use of Onco TCS in treating non-hodgkins lymphatic cancer. Shares of Inex responded to the news, surging 25 percent or C$1.07 to C$5.27 on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Monday morning. The stock has traded in a 52-week range of C$3.26 to C$10, and has fallen 22 percent in that period, underperforming the TSE's biotech index, which is up 3 percent in the same period. Inex also said the joint venture company will explore how Onco TCS can be used in treating other forms of cancer. The partnership will help maintain Inex's cash balance, which now sits at C$40 million, including money invested by Elan in Inex common shares. At a cash burn rate of C$800,000 to C$900,000 per month, Inex said it has at least three years worth of cash resources to develop drugs focused on cancer. ($1 equals $1.54 Canadian)