Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Biotech / Medical : Exelixis, Inc. (EXEL) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: nigel bates who wrote (10)	12/18/2001 12:18:54 PM
From: tuck	Respond to of 930

>>SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Dec. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Scientists at Exelixis, Inc. (Nasdaq: EXEL - news) and the Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology (IMCB) in Strasbourg, France have identified several genes involved in immunity whose roles were previously uncharacterized. They say further study of these genes and their role in the immune response could lead to the development of new treatments for inflammatory diseases such as asthma and rheumatoid arthritis. The findings are published in the December 18, 2001 issue of The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Researchers made their discovery using Drosophila (fruit fly) -- a model system that shares striking similarities with the human genome in its innate immune response. Scientists first challenged the Drosophila immune system by introducing fungal and bacterial pathogens. They then monitored nearly 14,000 genes for changes in expression. The study validated earlier studies of known pathways involved in innate immunity, and, more notably, resulted in the discovery of new genes for which there was previously no known function. These genes may play important roles in the inflammatory response, which could lead to new therapies. Exelixis retains the commercial rights to the use of these targets. ``These latest findings further demonstrate the power of Exelixis' model systems and our genetics and genomics approaches in identifying novel targets,'' said George A. Scangos, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer of Exelixis. ``Our internal efforts coupled with our collaboration with Dr. Jules Hoffman of the IMCB continue to discover promising candidates which, as they advance further through our pipeline, may lead to more effective approaches for the treatment of human inflammatory diseases.'' Exelixis, Inc. is a leading genomics-based drug discovery company focused on product development through its expertise in comparative genomics and model system genetics. These technologies provide a rapid, efficient and cost effective way to move from DNA sequence data to knowledge about the function of genes and the proteins they encode. The company's technology is broadly applicable to all life sciences industries including pharmaceutical, diagnostic, agricultural biotechnology and animal health. Exelixis has partnerships with Aventis CropScience S.A., Bayer Corporation, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Elan Pharmaceuticals, Inc, Pharmacia Corporation, Protein Design Labs, Inc., Scios Inc. and Dow AgroSciences LLC, and is building its internal development program in the area of oncology. For more information, please visit the company's web site at www.exelixis.com.<< snip Cheers, Tuck