BERLIN, Germany, Sept. 17, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- atugen AG today announced a new collaboration with Schering AG (Frankfurt:SCHG) (NYSE:SHR) to validate a number of novel drug targets associated with cancer. The companies previously completed a successful, five-year agreement, signed in 1997, that included extensive drug target evaluation in collaboration with Schering's Richmond, California-based research operation, Berlex Biosciences.
Under the terms of the new agreement, atugen will receive an up-front payment, annual licensing fees, research funding and milestone payments. atugen will develop GeneBlocs, specially designed antisense oligonucleotides, which inhibit expression of specific drug target candidates selected by Schering. The effects of the GeneBlocs will be analysed in a variety of pharmacological assays, thus validating gene function and disease association. No financial details were disclosed.
Klaus Giese, VP of Research of atugen, commented: "We are delighted that Schering have returned to atugen to continue validating their targets of interest. This clearly demonstrates atugen's GeneBloc technology and proprietary lipidswhich enable delivery of the antisense molecules into the cells, as a far superior and more efficient means of validating diseaseassociated genes."
"Over the last five years atugen has identified therapeutic targets out of our long list of candidate genes and thus helped us to focus our internal efforts on the most promising targets," commented Harald Dinter, Director of Cancer Research at Berlex Biosciences, the U.S.-based research center of Schering AG, Germany. "As oncology is a strategically important business area for Schering, we apply cutting edge technologies and work in an international research network in order to constantly identify new drug targets."
atugen's GeneBloc(R) technology is based on the delivery of specially designed oligonucleotides that reduce expression of target genes in vitro and in vivo, thus inhibiting protein production, and hence affecting a biological function. The direct correlation between reduction in target gene expression and effects on cellular function in cellular and animal models of disease rapidly provides the validation required to move the target into drug screening and development. atugen's proprietary delivery reagents carry the GeneBlocs into the cells of interest, allowing for optimal inhibition of gene expression over many days with the least amount of unwanted side effects.
atugen AG is a leading functional genomics company with headquarters in Berlin, Germany. Atugen is the only company with the ability to utilize the various technologies such as GeneBlocs, ribozymes, as well as siRNA to help pharmaceutical and biotechnology partners to select genetic targets of therapeutic value and validate them quickly and efficiently, as well as helping partners to optimize their lead compounds, resulting in a decrease in the number of product failures and a subsequent reduction in the cost of developing new drugs. atugen's internal research programs in oncology have identified several novel cancer associated genes that are currently being evaluated for the development of small molecule and antisense therapeutics. atugen provides or has provided target discovery and validation services to Arena Pharmaceuticals, AstraZeneca, Axys Pharmaceuticals, Bayer, Byk Gulden, BASF, Boehringer Ingelheim, Kinetek, Millennium, Novo Nordisk, Oxford GlycoSciences, Roche BioScience, Schering AG and its U.S. affiliate, Berlex Biosciences, Serono and UCSF.