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atugen
AG and metaGen Pharmaceuticals Sign Target Validation Agreement |
Berlin,
Germany, February 11, 2003
– atugen AG and metaGen Pharmaceuticals GmbH announced today that they
have signed an agreement to evaluate the application of atugen’s target
validation technology in research and development of metaGen’s novel
cancer drug targets.
Under
the terms of the agreement atugen will select and screen specially designed
antisense oligonucleotides and optimize cellular delivery in order to
provide tools to validate several novel cancer targets identified by metaGen.
Subsequently, metaGen will use those optimized GeneBloc® antisense
molecules to evaluate the function of the cancer targets in cellular and
animal models. No financial details were disclosed.
“This
collaboration should provide metaGen with an excellent opportunity to apply
our knockdown technologies to targets which may play a vital role in future
cancer therapies,” stated Klaus Giese, atugen´s Chief Scientific Officer
and Vice President of Research. “We believe this will prove to be the
beginning of a long and mutually beneficial collaboration between our two
companies.”
“atugen’s
GeneBloc® technology is a reliable and proven validation tool for novel
disease targets,” said Jürg Ambühl, Chief Executive Officer of metaGen.
“This agreement will allow us to accelerate validation of potentially
novel and clinically relevant targets so that these can be rapidly moved
into the drug development process.”
atugen
AG,
located in Berlin, Germany, is a technology leader in disease pathway
elucidation. Its drug discovery research tools are made available to the
biopharma industry through a variety of research collaborations including
alliances to develop its own in-house pipeline. atugen has proven its
technology by establishing a portfolio of validated targets and compounds
inhibiting the PI 3-kinase pathway. This disease pathway plays an important
role in most cancer types, diabetes, wound healing and other indications.
The company offers proprietary KnockDown™ technologies (antisense
molecules i.e. GeneBlocs, improved synthetic siRNA, vector expression
systems for siRNA and ribozymes and superior transfection reagents).
atugen’s
intellectual property portfolio consists of an exclusive license from
Ribozyme Pharmaceuticals Inc. (RPI) for 69 issued patents and more than 100
patent applications in the target discovery and validation field relating to
antisense molecules, ribozymes, delivery vehicles and related technologies.
This estate is complemented by atugen’s own target and technology patent
filings and several other licenses including a license to practice the RNA
interference technology. atugen’s current customers include Altana Pharma,
AstraZeneca, Novo Nordisk, Oxford Glycosciences, Pfizer, Schering/Berlex
Biosciences and UCSF amongst others.
GeneBlocs®
and KnockDown™ are trademarks of atugen.
www.atugen.com
metaGen
Pharmaceuticals
GmbH is a biopharmaceutical
company based in Berlin, Germany, dedicated to the development of novel
therapeutics for the treatment of patients suffering from the most prevalent
and aggressive forms of cancer. metaGen’s integrated genomics-based
technology platform enables the identification of novel gene targets
relevant for cancer. Through extensive validation of the identified cancer
targets in vitro and in vivo
metaGen ensures a high probability to discover novel avenues of cancer
treatment. metaGen has filed patent applications for approximately 1000 gene
sequences and established a patent portfolio focussed on several advanced
therapeutic cancer targets for prostate, breast, colon, lung, ovary, and
bladder cancer. metaGen develops jointly with partners small molecules and
monoclonal antibody based drugs against the identified novel cancer targets.
www.metagen.de
atugen AG
Dr. Zisi Fotev,
Vice President Business Development
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Tel: +49 (0)30 9489 2804
fotev@atugen.com
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Media Contact
Fiona Brown, Northbank
Communications
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Tel: +44
(0)20 7321 3875
f.brown@northbankcommunications.com
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metaGen
Pharmaceuticals
Dr. Lilian Vakalopoulou,
Chief Business Officer
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Tel :
+49 (0)30 45082 0
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