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Biotech / Medical : GZMO -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Extra Pale who wrote (386)	6/4/2001 8:57:58 AM
From: nigel bates	Respond to of 438

Strong contender for worst pun of the week - FRAMINGHAM, Mass., June 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Genzyme Molecular Oncology (Nasdaq: GZMO - news) announced today that it has acquired an exclusive license to significant patent rights covering the fusion of dendritic cells and tumor cells from BruCells, S.A./N.V. of Brussels, Belgium. This license is a key addition to Genzyme Molecular Oncology's valuable patent portfolio surrounding cell fusion technology. The technology was developed by a consortium of investigators at the Universite Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) and the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) in Belgium. BruCells was subsequently created by the universities and the regional government of Brussels as a for-profit venture dedicated to the development of cell therapies. In connection with the license, Genzyme Molecular Oncology is sponsoring a two-year research program at BruCells related to the fusion technology. Financial terms were not disclosed. ``We are committed to creating a broad and tight patent portfolio around our fusion technology vaccines,'' said Gail Maderis, president, Genzyme Molecular Oncology. ``The acquisition of this intellectual property from BruCells is a key addition to our cell fusion portfolio and further strengthens our patent position surrounding this promising technology. We look forward to working with some of the leading experts in the field of dendritic cell therapy through the research program we have just created.'' ``The research teams at ULB and VUB are pioneers of fusion technology,'' commented Gilles Capart, president of BruCells. ``The collaboration will strengthen the technology platform of BruCells in cell therapy and will accelerate the development of dendritic cell fusion as a promising approach to the treatment of cancer.'' Dendritic/tumor cell fusion is used to create a patient-specific cancer vaccine. The technology combines a patient's dendritic cells -- powerful immune stimulators -- with their inactivated tumor cells using a chemical fusion or an electrofusion procedure. The fused cells are injected back into the patient in order to stimulate an immune response against the patient's cancer. Cell fusion technology eliminates the need to identify the appropriate specific antigens to create a tumor vaccine because it incorporates the entire menu of antigens found on the original tumor to provide the target for the immune system. Once administered, a cancer vaccine stimulates the immune system to seek out and destroy cancer cells that display the antigens included in the vaccine. Antigens, protein fragments that are present in cancer cells, function as markers to direct an immune response to those cells. Because cancer vaccines elicit a systemic immune response, they have the potential to destroy cancer wherever it is found in the body. Genzyme Molecular Oncology will benefit from substantial pre-clinical, clinical and pharmaceutical research on dendritic cells conducted under the leadership of professors Muriel Moser, Michel Goldman and Thierry Velu at ULB and Kris Thielemans at VUB. They will be involved as principal investigators in the joint research program sponsored by GZMO. Genzyme Molecular Oncology is currently conducting three phase 1-2 cancer vaccine trials -- one each in breast cancer, melanoma, and kidney cancer -- using a dendritic/cancer cell fusion technology. These trials are being sponsored by investigators Donald Kufe, M.D., professor of medicine, the Dana- Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School, David Avigan, M.D., director, bone marrow transplant program at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, and Jianlin Gong, M.D., instructor of medicine, the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School. In the second half of 2001, Genzyme Molecular Oncology expects to initiate two additional cancer vaccine trials -- one in melanoma and one in kidney cancer -- using an electrofusion process. Safety and efficacy data from these five trials will allow Genzyme Molecular Oncology to compare each of the two fusion processes in multiple cancer indications, and will help guide further clinical development of the fusion vaccines.