On August 1, 2005 Phogen Ltd ("Phogen") and Cancer Research Technology Limited (CRT) reported that they have entered into an exclusive Technology Commercialisation Agreement for the commercialisation of Phogen’s VP22 technology (Press release, Cancer Research Technology, AUG 1, 2005, View Source [SID1234523435]).

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Under the terms of the agreement, CRT has agreed to provide Phogen with its expertise to commercialise Phogen’s VP22 Intellectual Property by identifying potential commercial partners and negotiating commercial terms with those parties, including licence agreements and sponsored research collaborations. Financial terms were not disclosed.

VP22 is a versatile platform technology, having utility in its DNA form for enhancing DNA vaccines and gene therapies, while the protein form, denoted Vectosomes, offers multiple delivery applications, which have been demonstrated for candidate therapeutic nucleic-acid based drugs as well as therapeutic proteins.

Dr Peter O’Hare, Phogen’s Co-founder and Director of the Marie Curie Research Institute, commented: "CRT was instrumental in the establishment of Phogen and we are delighted to have signed this agreement with them. It is particularly gratifying that their expertise will be brought to bear in the commercialisation of our technology."

Dr Keith Blundy, Chief Operating Officer of CRT, commented: "This agreement highlights CRT’s expertise and track record in technology commercialisation. We are very pleased to be working with Phogen, a joint venture established by Marie Curie Cancer Care, one of our academic partners."

On June 7, 2005 Boehringer Ingelheim and Evotec OAI (Frankfurt Stock Exchange: EVT, TecDAX 30) reported on selected G-Protein Coupled Receptors (GPCRs) the first project milestone has been successfully achieved (Press release, Evotec, JUN 7, 2005 View Source;announcements/press-releases/p/evotec-oai-achieves-first-milestone-in-partnership-with-boehringer-ingelheim-4546 [SID1234538884]). Under the terms of the drug discovery collaboration, Evotec OAI AG has received a first research milestone payment from Boehringer Ingelheim. The payment was granted for the identification of a number of lead series for a priority target of this collaboration. Further projects within the multi-target collaboration are progressing on schedule. Evotec OAI is entitled to additional payments from Boehringer Ingelheim based on the achievement of further milestones. Further financial details of the payment were not disclosed.

Dr Mark Ashton, Executive Vice President Business Development Services at Evotec OAI, commented: "We are extremely proud that we have reached our first project milestone with Boehringer Ingelheim in such a short period of time. Over the past nine months we have built an excellent relationship and we are looking forward to a continued fruitful collaboration."

Professor Mikael Dolsten, Head of Corporate Division Pharma Research/Discovery, Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, said: "We are very pleased with the progress achieved in the collaboration on GPCR targets, which constitute one of the most proven drug target classes in the medical area. Generation of novel leads against a disease relevant GPCR target was successfully achieved in a short time period. The basis for this first milestone achievement was both the excellent drug discovery performance and the good collaboration spirit between the Boehringer Ingelheim and Evotec scientists. We anticipate valuable results from this collaboration."

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Contacts:
Evotec OAI AG, Anne Hennecke, Investor Relations & Corporate Communications, 22525 Hamburg, Phone: +49 – 40 – 56081 286 / Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, Ute Schmidt, Corporate Division Communications, 55216 Ingelheim, Phone: +49 – 6132 – 77 97296
Contacts:

Evotec OAI AG, Anne Hennecke, Investor Relations & Corporate Communications, 22525 Hamburg, Phone: +49 – 40 – 56081 286 / Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, Ute Schmidt, Corporate Division Communications, 55216 Ingelheim, Phone: +49 – 6132 – 77 97296

On May 5, 2005 Cancer Research Technology Limited (CRT) is pleased to report the appointment of Dr Phil L’Huillier as Director of Business Management (Press release, Cancer Research Technology, MAY 10, 2005, View Source [SID1234523436]). Previously, Dr L’Huillier was Director of Global Licensing and Business Development at BioFocus Discovery, a UK listed drug discovery company. Prior to BioFocus, Phil headed ProBio Inc, a US specialty IP commercialisation company, involved in international licensing and partnering in the pharmaceutical, genomics and agbiotech sectors (now part of the Pharming Group NV).

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The post of Director of Business Management is a new position within CRT, demanded in part by CRT’s ambitious future plans. These include the expansion of CRT’s oncology focused development laboratory enabling CRT to take early-stage projects further downstream, and growing the development services within Europe as well as entry into the US. Dr Keith Blundy, CRT’s Chief Operating Officer stated: "We are delighted to welcome Phil to CRT. CRT’s Business Management Team and indeed the organisation as a whole will benefit greatly from Phil’s guidance and expertise."

On January 27, 2005 Danisco A/S (Copenhagen Stock Exchange) ("Danisco"), one of the world’s largest producers of food ingredients, and Genencor International, Inc. (Nasdaq: GCOR) ("Genencor"), a diversified biotechnology company that develops and delivers innovative products and services into the health care, agri-processing, industrial and consumer markets, jointly reported that they have signed a definitive agreement for Danisco to acquire all of the outstanding shares of common stock of Genencor, other than those held by Danisco, Eastman Chemical Company ("Eastman") or their respective subsidiaries, for $19.25 per share in cash (Filing, Genencor International, JAN 27, 2005, View Source [SID:SID1234515815]).

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In connection with the definitive agreement with Genencor, Danisco has entered into a definitive stock purchase agreement with Eastman under which Danisco will acquire all of the outstanding shares of common stock of Genencor held by Eastman for $15 per share in cash and all of the outstanding shares of preferred stock of Genencor held by Eastman for $44 million in cash. Danisco and Eastman currently each own approximately 42% of Genencor’s outstanding shares of common stock and 50% of Genencor’s outstanding shares of preferred stock.

"Being an advanced and recognised biotechnology company, Genencor will expand Danisco’s knowledge base significantly and broaden our access to an important new business area, industrial enzymes," said Alf Duch-Pedersen, Chief Executive Officer of Danisco.

"Our two companies know each other well and the synergy is obvious," said JJ Bienaimé, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Genencor. "Together, we will have the depth and the reach to achieve the vision we’ve had for our business."

The acquisition of the shares of Genencor’s common stock for $19.25 per share will be effected by means of a cash tender offer for all of the outstanding shares of common stock of Genencor, other than those held by Danisco and its subsidiaries, followed by a merger in which all Genencor stockholders, other than Danisco and its subsidiaries, who have not tendered their shares will receive the same per share price. The acquisition agreement is subject to certain conditions, including the tender of a majority of the outstanding shares of common stock of Genencor other than those held by Danisco, Eastman, the officers and directors of Genencor and its subsidiaries and the respective affiliates of each of the foregoing, receipt of regulatory approvals and other conditions. Subject to those conditions, Danisco and Genencor currently expect the acquisition to be completed by May 31, 2005.

A special committee comprised of independent directors of Genencor has reviewed the transaction on behalf of the Genencor stockholders unaffiliated with Danisco and Eastman. Upon the recommendation of the special committee, the board of directors of Genencor has approved the acquisition agreement and the transaction.

On January 10, 2005 Xenova Group plc (NASDAQ: XNVA; London Stock Exchange: XEN) reported that it has entered into a licensing agreement with Cancer Research Technology Limited (CRT) in respect of Xenova’s intellectual property relating to TA-CIN (Press release, Cancer Research Technology, JAN 10, 2005, View Source [SID1234523438]). TA-CIN is a vaccine developed by Xenova as a treatment for women with cervical dysplasia, and has proved safe and immunogenic in Phase I and Phase II clinical trials.

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CRT will facilitate a further Phase II clinical trial to be undertaken at St. Mary’s Hospital Manchester and associated laboratory studies at the Paterson Institute for Cancer Research in Manchester to evaluate TA-CIN in combination with an immune modulator in subjects with vulval intra-epithelial neoplasia (VIN). This trial, expected to start shortly, will recruit between 20 and 30 women with known, pre-treated, or newly diagnosed VIN3. The primary end point is objective response of vulval intraepithelial lesions to treatment as well as evaluating safety, toxicity and tolerability of the combination treatment.

CRT will license TA-CIN patents, know-how and materials from Xenova and will undertake marketing of TA-CIN to potential commercial partners with a view to sub-licensing the development and commercialisation of the product. Net receipts from the sub-licensing of TA-CIN will be shared between Xenova and CRT after certain direct costs have been recouped.

Cervical dysplasia (also known as cervical intra-epithelial neoplasia, CIN) is one of a group of conditions, including VIN, known collectively as ano-genital intraepithelial neoplasia (AGIN), which are precursors to invasive cancers such as cervical cancer. Infection with certain high risk types of Human Papillomavirus such as HPV16, is closely associated with these dysplasias and cancers, which are difficult to treat and have a high recurrence rate.

David Oxlade , Chief Executive Officer of Xenova said: "We are delighted that the promising TA-CIN vaccine is now progressing into further Phase II studies through this relationship with CRT. This collaboration provides further evidence of the potential value of Xenova’s portfolio of novel cancer drugs."

Dr Keith Blundy, Chief Operating Officer of CRT stated: "We are pleased to in-license and develop this opportunity from Xenova, which clearly demonstrates CRT’s strategy for expanding our oncology portfolio and addressing our goal of cancer patient benefit".