BERLIN, Germany, Dec. 4, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- atugen AG today announced that it has received two milestone payments from ALTANA Pharma AG, the international Pharmaceuticals Group of ALTANA AG (NYSE:AAA) as part of a validation alliance for new target molecules associated with cancer and diseases of the immune system, signed in 2001.
The milestone payments are related to the validation of the first two targets from ALTANA Pharma AG using atugen's GeneBloc(R) technology. In particular, atugen developed potent GeneBlocs(R), specific antisense molecules, for the inhibition of gene expression and validated the function in oncology assays. The rapid validation of the two targets, only 6 months after starting the program, enables ALTANA Pharma AG to commence High Throughput Screening to identify therapeutic candidates. No financial details were disclosed.
"We are extremely pleased to be able to fulfill the terms of the agreement in record time," Dr Zisi Fotev, VP of Business Development of atugen commented. "We look forward to the developments of the continuing validation of ALTANA's other targets and a continuing successful relationship with ALTANA."
"We are delighted to be working with atugen and pleased to see that our confidence in their abilities has been proved so rapidly," Prof. Dr. Radtke, CSO of ALTANA Pharma AG stated. "Target validation is an important early step in our drug discovery process, at which a gene's and protein's participation in a disease is confirmed. This step is then triggering intense drug finding activities."
atugen AG is a technology leader in disease pathway elucidation located in Berlin, Germany. Building on successful collaborations with a large number of pharmaceutical and biotechnology partnerships, atugen is positioned to take advantage of the industry's need to unravel the function of genes and to dissect signal transduction pathways. atugen has already proven its ability by establishing a portfolio of validated targets and compounds inhibiting the PI 3-kinase pathway, which plays an important role in most cancer types, diabetes, wound healing and other indications. The company offers proprietary KnockDown(TM) technologies (antisense molecules i.e. GeneBlocs(R), improved synthetic siRNA, vector expression systems for siRNA and ribozymes) and superior transfection reagents. atugen has entered into a variety of different partnerships with major pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies ranging from target validation services to strategic alliances to discover and validate gene targets for drug discovery. atugen provides or has provided target discovery and validation services to Agouron Pharmaceuticals, Altana Pharma, Arena Pharmaceuticals, AstraZeneca, Axys Pharmaceuticals, Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Kinetek, Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Novo Nordisk, Oxford Glycosciences, Pfizer, Roche Biosciences, Schering AG/Berlex Biosciences, Serono and UCSF.
ALTANA AG (NYSE:AAA) is an international pharmaceuticals and chemicals Group with sales of Euro2.3 billion in 2001 and over 9,000 employees all around the world. It is the strategic management holding company of the ALTANA Group, comprising two operating Divisions, ALTANA Pharma AG and ALTANA Chemie AG.
The pharmaceutical division ALTANA Pharma AG is an international Group with around 30 subsidiaries and affiliates in Europe, the Americas, South Africa, Australia and Asia. ALTANA Pharma AG concentrates on therapeutics, imaging (contrast media), in-vitro diagnostics and OTC medication, and focuses on innovative pharmaceutical research (gastroenterology, respiratory, oncology).
In 2001, ALTANA Pharma AG achieved sales of Euro1.6 billion, i.e. up 26% year-on-year. Therapeutics, the most important area of business, is based on prescription drugs for respiratory, cardiovascular and gastrointestinal indications.
Pantoprazole, used to treat gastrointestinal disorders, is ALTANA Pharma's best-selling drug, generating worldwide sales of Euro1.3 billion in 2001.
ALTANA Pharma AG employs around 7,500 people worldwide, of whicharound 3,000 work in Germany.