LONDON, England, July 12, 2001 (PRIMEZONE) -- Inpharmatica Ltd., the leading informatics-driven drug discovery company, today announces that it has signed a two year collaborative agreement with Serono SA, (VX:SEO) (NYSE:SRA), Europe's leading biotechnology company, for the discovery of novel protein therapeutics.
The agreement highlights the growing importance of protein structures in understanding the function of proteins coded by the human genome. This exclusive collaboration brings together Inpharmatica's expertise in structural Bio-informatics with Serono's world-class capabilities in disease understanding and clinical development. Inpharmatica's approach is to predict protein function using sequence and structure relationships of proteins, thereby providing a rational basis for the identification of the most suitable protein therapeutics and drug targets.
Commenting on the announcement, Dr. Malcolm Weir, Chief Executive of Inpharmatica, said:
"This collaboration substantiates our view that there are still many valuable targets to be unearthed from the genome by the use of advanced large-scale informatics. This is our first major step into the drug discovery business, and to have a company as respected as Serono on our list of partners is a major validation of our capabilities and technologies. The structure of the relationship, and the potential for significant drug discovery is exceptional for a company of our current size and profile. We very much look forward to working closely with Serono over the next few years and making this collaboration a resounding success."
"The power of understanding the human genome is the potential it gives us to find molecules which can cure diseases rather than merely treat the symptoms," said Dr Tim Wells, Vice President of Research at Serono. "Serono's ambition is to use the genome to rapidly identify proteins which have high potential as therapeutic agents, and this collaboration is a significant step along that path. Inpharmatica's approach to structural Bio-informatics allows us to fish in the genome with a more sophisticated bait. Serono has an excellent track record of accessing novel technologies through strategic partnerships, and this agreement exemplifies that approach."
Under the terms of the agreement, Serono will provide research funding for a team of Inpharmatica scientists, who will develop and apply proprietary technologies for the identification of novel protein therapeutics. In return, Serono will have the right to select an unlimited number of proteins for clinical development and eventual commercialization. Furthermore, Serono has the right to develop antibodies and small molecules against protein targets identified. Dependent upon the achievement of certain developmental milestones, Inpharmatica will receive a series of undisclosed payments from Serono, and eventual royalties on any commercialized products. Total milestone payments to Inpharmatica could exceed $20 million, excluding royalties. The full rights to any unselected proteins will revert to Inpharmatica. As part of the agreement, Serono will gain non-exclusive access to Biopendium(tm), Inpharmatica's unique target discovery resource.
Notes to Editors:
Inpharmatica : www.inpharmatica.com
Inpharmatica is the leading informatics-driven drug discovery company. It applies information from its two platform technologies, which look at the relationships between the structure and function of proteins, to the discovery of novel drugs. Founded in 1998, Inpharmatica is based on research from Professor Janet Thornton's group at University College London. The Company utilizes large-scale computing facilities, as well as proprietary informatics technologies, to identify drug targets and subsequently the drug compounds themselves which are most likely to be successful as therapeutics.
These two integrated platform technologies, developed by Inpharmatica, assess the suitability of proteins as drug targets. They do this by predicting the function of the protein and evaluating its druggability, i.e. whether a drug molecule can be discovered for this target.
-- Biopendium(tm) - a unique target discovery resource of protein
sequence, structure and function information, allowing
Inpharmatica and its collaborators to exploit information in the
human genome;
-- Chematica(tm) - a knowledge-based chemoinformatics platform that
enables assessment of druggability and lead discovery.
Armed with knowledge of a protein's function and inherent druggability, the Company is then well placed to develop novel drug molecules. Inpharmatica will advance the target into drug discovery in-house and with partners.
Business Model:
-- Subscription-based collaborations to Biopendium(tm) - these are
non-exclusive subscriptions, typically running over 3 years;
signed up to date are Pfizer and Genentech;
-- Drug discovery collaborations - using Biopendium(tm) and
Chematica(tm) to select novel, druggable targets, Inpharmatica
establishes collaborations focused upon a defined target class of
therapeutic area; signed up to date is Arrow Therapeutics.
About Serono
Serono, headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, is a global biotechnology leader. The Company has six recombinant products on the market, Gonal-F(r), Luveris(r), Ovidrel(r), Rebif(r), Serostim(r) and Saizen(r), (Rebif(r) and Luveris(r) are not approved in the USA). In addition to being the world leader in reproductive health, Serono has strong market positions in neurology, metabolism and growth. The Company's research programs are focused on growing these businesses and on establishing new therapeutic areas. Currently, there are eleven molecules in development.
In 2000, Serono achieved worldwide revenues of US$1.240 billion, and a net income of US$301 million, making it the third largest biotech company in the world based on revenues. The Company operates in 45 countries, and its products are sold in over 100 countries. Bearer shares of Serono S.A., the holding company, are traded on the SWX Swiss Exchange (SEO) and its American Depositary Shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange (SRA).