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Biotech / Medical : MEDX ... anybody following? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Icebrg who wrote (753)	10/16/2003 4:27:18 PM
From: Icebrg	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 2240

BioWa and Medarex Announce Licensing of BioWa's Potelligent(TM) Technology Thursday October 16, 4:20 pm ET BioWa Provides the First Ever Potelligent(TM) Antibody Technology License to Medarex [Busy days in the mAb-shops, these days]. PRINCETON, N.J., Oct. 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- BioWa, Inc. and Medarex, Inc. (Nasdaq: MEDX - News) today announced that BioWa has granted a license to Medarex to use BioWa's Potelligent(TM) technology for the enhancement of Antibody-Dependent Cellular Cytotoxicity (ADCC). Medarex plans to use the Potelligent technology to enhance the ADCC function of selected Medarex antibodies. The license agreement provides Medarex with options for exclusive licenses. Detailed licensing terms/financial terms were not disclosed. "The development of antibodies with superior cytotoxic potency and efficacy and thereby potentially decreased dosing and production costs is a major objective of BioWa," said Dr. Nobuo Hanai, President and CEO of BioWa. "The promise of Potelligent technology is to significantly enhance the ADCC of antibodies that may result in superior therapeutic profiles. We believe that application of our Potelligent(TM) technology to the antibody pipeline of a world leader in antibody technology like Medarex will be a major step in achieving these objectives. We are pleased to have entered this relationship with Medarex and to have the opportunity for our Potelligent technology to be combined with Medarex's human antibody technology." "We are impressed with BioWa's Potelligent technology," said Donald L. Drakeman, President and CEO of Medarex. "We look forward to the rapid application of the Potelligent technology, which we expect will effectively increase the potency of selected UltiMAb(TM) antibodies." About Potelligent Technology Potelligent technology relies upon proprietary technology developed by research scientists at Kyowa Hakko Kogyo Co., Ltd., BioWa's parent company, and transferred to BioWa. Potelligent technology reduces the fucose content of an antibody, which results in increased ADCC. ADCC is a function of the immune system that enhances the ability of antibodies to kill tumor cells. Enhanced ADCC resulting from the application of Potelligent technology has been seen in laboratory based tests as well as in animal models. Potelligent technology has demonstrated enhanced ADCC activity of antibodies by orders of magnitude in such laboratory tests, and the first clinical test of such an antibody suggests that other important characteristics of the antibody such as the pharmacokinetics and immunogenicity appear unaffected. About BioWa BioWa was established in February 2003 as a subsidiary of Kyowa Hakko Kogyo Co., Ltd., a leading Japanese bio-tech/pharmaceuticals company headquartered in Tokyo. BioWa is the exclusive licensee of a new-generation platform technology developed by Kyowa Hakko (i.e. Potelligent(TM) technology) that can enhance the value of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies for BioWa and its partners. BioWa's main office is located in Princeton, N.J. and further information may be found on the BioWa website at www.biowa.com.