BERLIN, Germany, Feb. 20, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- atugen AG announced today the signing of a technology evaluation agreement with Kinetek Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Vancouver, Canada, a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of selective signal transduction inhibitors in cancer and inflammatory diseases.
Under the terms of the agreement, Kinetek will evaluate the application of atugen's target validation technology in its research and development efforts in oncology. atugen will optimize its GeneBloc(r) and cellular delivery technologies in specific cell lines to 'knock-down' the expression of a number of novel signal transduction kinase targets identified by Kinetek. Subsequently, Kinetek will use the optimized GeneBloc(r) molecules to validate the gene function of these targets using their proprietary proteomics technologies. No financial details were disclosed.
"This relationship provides atugen with an excellent opportunity to apply our knockdown technologies to phosphatases and kinases, which are clearly the cornerstones of cancer therapies of the future," stated David Traylor, atugen USA's Senior Director, Business Development. "We believe this is just the beginning of a long and mutually beneficial collaboration between the companies."
"atugen's technology is recognized by leading scientists in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry, as well as in academic institutions, as a highly specific, low toxic and effective strategy for validating the function of newly discovered genes," said Dr. Jasbinder Sanghera, Kinetek's Chief Scientific Officer. "This agreement will allow us to accelerate validation of potentially novel and clinically relevant kinase and phosphatase targets so that these can be rapidly moved into our high-throughput screening process."
Kinetek Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is in the business of discovering and developing drugs that are both highly effective and selective. Kinetek's business strategy of discovering and developing these so-called "smart" drugs is based on the concept of generating Triads. A Triad consists of a small molecule lead compound (potential drug candidate) that is highly effective and selective against a biological target, which is shown to cause a specific disease indication. Kinetek utilizes defective kinases and phosphatases as the starting point for the generation of a Triad. Kinetek's Triads are addressing diseases having large markets with clear unmet medical needs. Kinetek's oncology Triads are centered around the PI3Kinase pathway which is a pivotal signaling pathway in cancer biology controlling cell proliferation, invasion and apoptosis.
atugen AG is a leading functional genomics company with headquarters in Berlin, Germany and a subsidiary in Boulder, Colorado, USA. atugen's GeneBloc(r) technology can help pharmaceutical and biotechnology partners validate and select genetic targets of therapeutic value, as well as 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, Astra Zeneca, Axys Pharmaceuticals, Bayer, Byk Gulden, Roche BioScience, BASF, Boehringer Ingelheim, Millennium, Novo Nordisk, Oxford GlycoSciences, Schering
AG and its US affiliate, Berlex Biosciences, UCSF and Serono.
Notes to Editors
atugen's proprietary GeneBloc(r) technology is based on the delivery of specially designed antisense oligonucleotides that reduce the expression of target genes in vitro and in vivo, thereby inhibiting protein production, and hence affecting a biological function. The direct correlation between reduction in target gene expression and effects on cellular function rapidly provides the validation required to move a genetic target into drug screening and development. Through atugen's novel discovery approach it is able to induce a disease process and then dissect the molecular pathways involved, thus determining which gene is mainly responsible for the disease and thereby providing the best target for therapeutic treatment with the lowest side effect profile. atugen's proprietary delivery reagents, which transport the GeneBlocs into the cells, are extremely low toxic and efficient enabling analysis of gene function in cellular assays over several days. atugen's GeneBloc(r) technology can provide biotechnology and pharmaceutical partners with high quality, cost-effective, reliable and efficient genetic target validation, thus accelerating the development of novel drugs into the market. atugen is also investigating the therapeutic application of GeneBlocs through its internal research programs.
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