On March 30, 2006, Polaris reported that it has completed a series of agreements that culminates in acquiring the intellectual property of Phoenix Pharmacologics, Inc (Press release, Polaris Pharmaceuticals, MAR 30, 2006, View Source [SID1234526555]). Polaris now holds the worldwide rights, excluding Taiwan and China, to ADI‑PEG 20 and worldwide rights, excluding Taiwan, to Uricase-PEG 20. ADI‑PEG 20 is a pegylated form of the enzyme arginine deiminase, a biotherapeutic agent currently in Phase 2 clinical trials for the treatment of both hepatocellular cancer and metastatic melanoma. Uricase-PEG 20 is a pegylated form of urate oxidase, a biotherapeutic agent that has successfully completed a Phase 1 clinical study and is now being developed for the treatment of refractory gout, hyperuricemia, and tumor lysis syndrome.

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With this purchase, Polaris has also acquired the rights to several early development stage biotherapeutic agents, including TNF-PEG 20 and Histidase-PEG 20, and novel potent small molecule inhibitors of casein kinase 2. These acquisitions provide Polaris with a promising pipeline, particularly in the anticancer therapeutic area.

On March 13, 2006 Astex Therapeutics reported a new drug discovery collaboration with the University of Newcastle upon Tyne and Cancer Research Technology (CRT) (Press release, Cancer Research Technology, MAR 13, 2006, View Source [SID1234523398]). The collaboration will aim to identify small molecule inhibitors of the Fibroblast Growth Factor Receptor (FGFr) tyrosine kinase family suitable for treatment of diseases including multiple myeloma, prostate cancer and other tumour types in which FGFr signalling is deregulated. Under the terms of the agreement, Astex will provide funding to the University to support the development of model cell systems to test novel drug compounds being developed by Astex. The University and CRT are eligible to receive milestone payments as drug compounds resulting from the collaboration are successfully developed and commercialised by Astex. Further financial details were not disclosed.

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"This new collaboration builds on the experience in model cell systems and FGFr crystallography which was developed in an initial evaluation project with the University and CRT which we began in 2004. The new collaboration allows Astex to continue to access the unique expertise of the University in understanding the biology of FGFr as a novel drug target for the treatment of some of the most important cancers in humans", said Harren Jhoti, Chief Scientific Officer and Acting CEO.

On January 17, 2006 Evotec AG (Frankfurt Stock Exchange: EVT, TecDAX 30, "Evotec") reported that effective from 1 January 2006 Evotec and Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH ("Boehringer") will significantly expand their drug discovery collaboration initiated in September 2004, effectively doubling the already sizeable programme (Press release, Evotec, JAN 17, 2006, View Source;announcements/press-releases/p/evotec-and-boehringer-ingelheim-significantly-expand-and-extend-their-joint-drug-discovery-collaboration-4531 [SID1234538894]). At the same time, the collaboration that was originally projected to end in August 2007 was extended to the end of 2008.

Evotec and Boehringer aim to jointly identify and develop pre-clinical development candidates suitable for future selection as drug candidates for clinical testing. While the original contract was exclusively targeted at therapeutics acting on G-Protein Coupled Receptors (GPCRs), the extension also includes targets from different target classes, including ion channels and enzymes. Boehringer will have the ownership and global responsibility for all clinical development activities, manufacture and commercialisation of the compounds identified in the collaboration.

As compensation for Evotec’s contributions to the programme, Evotec receives ongoing research payments from Boehringer. In addition, Boehringer will pay to Evotec pre-clinical and clinical milestones as well as royalties on drugs discovered in the collaboration. The first project milestone was successfully announced in June 2005, less than one year after the start of this partnership.

Professor Mikael Dolsten, Head of Corporation Division Pharma Research/Discovery, Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, said: "We are very pleased with the progress we have achieved in our collaboration with Evotec to date. We appreciate the drug discovery performance with the first milestone achieved as well as the positive spirit in the team. This has led us to extend and expand our relationship further."

Joern Aldag, President and Chief Executive Officer at Evotec, said: "Following an extremely successful start to our collaboration we are delighted with Boehringer’s commitment not only to place additional contracts with us but also in having the confidence and trust to significantly expand our drug discovery partnership and broaden it into other target areas. Bringing together our complementary strengths and expertise in one team we have established a powerful platform for the discovery of promising new medicines. As a long-term strategic partner we are proud to have delivered valuable contributions to Boehringer’s research in just a short period of time and look forward to a continued successful collaboration."

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Contact: Anne Hennecke, Director, Investor Relations & Corporate Communications, Evotec AG, Phone: +49-40-56081-286, [email protected]
Contact: Anne Hennecke, Director, Investor Relations & Corporate Communications, Evotec AG, Phone: +49-40-56081-286, [email protected]

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