Caprion Pharmaceuticals Announces New Collaboration With AstraZeneca
MONTREAL--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 1, 2005--Caprion Pharmaceuticals Inc. today announced a collaboration agreement with AstraZeneca focused on the discovery of novel targets for the treatment of prostate cancer. The collaboration seeks to enable the development of innovative therapies, providing both AstraZeneca and Caprion with new candidates for their development pipelines.
Under the terms of the collaboration, AstraZeneca will evaluate a number of prostate cancer drug targets discovered by Caprion. AstraZeneca will obtain exclusive, worldwide rights to develop and commercialize therapeutic applications for its selected targets. Caprion will retain rights to all other targets for pursuit of internal or partnered product development efforts.
The terms of the agreement include an up-front payment and license fees to Caprion, as well as certain additional payments contingent upon the successful achievement of development and commercialization milestones by AstraZeneca. Specific financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
"Caprion's capabilities and track record for identifying new targets in cancer is compelling," said Les Hughes Ph.D., Vice President & Global Head of Cancer Research, AstraZeneca. "Combined with AstraZeneca's strong legacy of discovering and developing important new therapies for cancer, Caprion's novel science will form an important part of our oncology efforts."
"With our fourth major partnership in our third oncology indication, Caprion has firmly established its leadership position in the discovery of novel cancer targets," said Lloyd M. Segal, Caprion's President & CEO. "This collaboration represents an additional validation of our capabilities, and allows us to further invest in our own emerging pipeline of monoclonal antibody cancer therapeutics."
Adds Dr. Hughes, "AstraZeneca has been impressed by the quality of science being performed in Canada. As we continue to strengthen our relationships with innovative biotech companies like Caprion, we hope that the federal and provincial governments will move forward to improve the investment climate to support and encourage additional partnerships."
About Caprion Pharmaceuticals
Caprion is a leading proteomics-based drug discovery company applying CellCarta® to discover and develop innovative products for the diagnosis and treatment of disease. Caprion has established therapeutic antibody discovery partnerships with Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT - News) and ICOS Corporation (NASDAQ: ICOS - News) in Lung Cancer, and Biogen IDEC (NASDAQ: BIIB - News) in Colon Cancer, as well as pharmaco-proteomic discovery collaborations with Wyeth (NYSE: WYE - News), AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN - News), Merck & Co (NYSE: MRK - News), and Pfizer (NYSE: PFE - News). Caprion's partners also include IDEXX Laboratories (NASDAQ: IDXX - News) and Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics (NYSE:JNJ - News). Caprion's therapeutic antibodies for the prevention of Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS) resulting from E. coli infection are currently in Phase I clinical trials. For more on Caprion, see www.caprion.com.
Contact:
Caprion Pharmaceuticals Inc. Nathalie Uson, 514-940-3617
Source: Caprion Pharmaceuticals Inc.