Alanex and Zeneca Form Strategic Collaboration to Discover Novel Agrochemicals
PR Newswire, Thursday, June 18, 1998 at 12:57
LA JOLLA, Calif., June 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Alanex Corporation, a wholly
owned subsidiary of Agouron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AGPH) and Zeneca
Agrochemicals, a division of Zeneca Limited, announced today a three-year
agreement under which Alanex will provide compounds from its exploratory
chemical libraries on a nonexclusive basis for screening in Zeneca's high
throughput agrochemical assays.
Under the terms of the agreement, Zeneca has the right to exclusively
license leads that arise from the use of the Alanex screening libraries for
applications in agriculture, horticulture, forestry and public health, while
Alanex retains all human pharmaceutical and animal health commercial rights.
In return, Alanex will receive an upfront license fee and annual research
support. The agreement also provides for milestone and royalty payments to
Alanex. Further financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
"This collaboration allows us to leverage a powerful and proven discovery
asset, Alanex's exploratory libraries, in a field outside of the key business
focus of Agouron, while also offsetting the cost of development of this
technology," said Marvin R. Brown, M.D., president of Alanex. "We are pleased
to enter into this relationship with Zeneca, which is a leader in the
discovery and commercialization of agrochemical products."
David A. Evans, Ph.D., director of research and development of Zeneca
Agrochemicals, commented, "Collaborative projects are a key element of our R&D
strategy. Alanex's expertise in combinatorial chemistry complements our
skills in high throughput screening, and we are confident that together these
technologies will generate high quality agrochemical leads for our business."
Zeneca Group PLC (Registered Office, London) is a leading international
bioscience group with sales in 1997 of GBP 5.194 billion (USD 8.622 billion).
Zeneca Agrochemicals is the crop protection and plant science business of the
Zeneca Group. It is the third largest global supplier to this market, with
sales in 1997 of GBP 1.631 billion (USD 2.707 billion) in over 130 countries.
Agouron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is an integrated pharmaceutical company
committed to the discovery, development, manufacturing, and marketing of
innovative, therapeutic products, engineered to inactivate proteins that play
key roles in cancer, AIDS, and other serious diseases.
This press release may contain forward-looking statements or predictions,
These statements represent our judgment as of this date and are subject to
risks and uncertainties (including those associated with regulatory approvals
and the impact of competitive products) that could cause the actual results to
differ materially. Important factors concerning these risks are discussed in
our form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1997, currently on file with
The Securities and Exchange Commission. Agouron undertakes no obligation to
publicly release the result of any revisions to such forward-looking
statements which may be made to reflect events or circumstances after the date
hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.
For more information on Agouron, you may visit the Agouron Web Site at
agouron.com.
SOURCE Agouron Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
-0- 06/18/98
/CONTACT: Investor Contact: Donna Nichols, Vice President, Head of
Corporate Communications, 619-622-3009; or Media Contact: Joy Schmitt,
Manager, Product Public Relations, 619-622-3220, both of Agouron
Pharmaceuticals, Inc./
/Company News On-Call: prnewswire.com or fax, 800-758-5804,
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/Web site: agouron.com |
