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Biotech / Medical : Munch-a-Biotech Today -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: sim1 who wrote (2045)	12/23/2005 1:58:25 PM
From: nigel bates	Respond to of 3158

AstraZeneca / KuDOS - more colour... By Ben Hirschler and Santosh Menon LONDON, Dec 23 (Reuters) - AstraZeneca Plc (AZN.L: Quote, Profile, Research) has agreed to buy privately owned biotech firm KuDOS Pharmaceuticals for $210 million in the latest move to bolster its new product pipeline, Europe's third-largest drug maker said on Friday. The cash acquisition of the British cancer specialist, which is expected to close early next year, comes one day after a $1 billion heart drug deal with U.S.-based AtheroGenics Inc. (AGIX.O:Quote, Profile, Research) . KuDOS will lift AstraZeneca's presence in cancer medicine -- traditionally one of the company's strongest areas but a business where it tripped up last year when newly launched lung cancer pill Iressa failed to boost survival in a key study. Shares in AstraZeneca were 0.6 percent higher at 27.94 pounds by 0835 GMT, while the European healthcare sector added 0.4 percent. Founded by Cambridge University professor Stephen Jackson, KuDOS focuses on the development of cancer treatments based on the inhibition of DNA repair. DNA repair inhibitors have the potential to kill cancer cells either as stand-alone therapy or by enhancing the effectiveness of chemotherapy and radiotherapy. KuDOS, which has around 75 employees at two sites in Britain, has one compound in initial Phase I clinical development known as KU 59436, which could help fight breast and ovarian cancer, plus several other pre-clinical compounds and programmes. AstraZeneca said it believed KU 59436 could be developed in combination with a diagnostic test to assess which patients were likely to benefit from the drug. AstraZeneca said its immediate plans for KuDOS were for the company to become a hub for DNA repair discovery activities, reporting into its Global Cancer and Infection Research Area. John Patterson, AstraZeneca's executive director of development, said KuDOS provided a complementary technology platform as well as early stage compounds to bulk up the pipeline. AstraZeneca has a particular need to boost is drug portfolio following a series of setbacks in the last year, including the rejection of blood thinner Exanta by U.S. regulators, as well as the failure of Iressa. Incoming Chief Executive David Brennan, who takes over next month, told Reuters in a recent interview he intended to step up the hunt for products by either licensing in compounds or buying small biotech companies outright. Investors in KuDOS include investment funds represented by Advent Venture Partners, BankInvest Biomedical Venture, Euclid SR Partners, Johnson & Johnson Development Corp (JNJ.N: Quote,Profile, Research) , Life Science Partners, 3i (III.L: Quote, Profile, Research) and SV Life Sciences...