GenOdyssee Announces Research Partnership With Baxter AG

PARIS, October 23 /PRNewswire/ -- GenOdyssee S.A., a biotechnology company dedicated to the discovery of novel protein therapeutic products, has entered into a research and development cooperation agreement with Baxter AG. GenOdyssee will use its unique intellectual property position in the field of protein therapeutics, as well as its proprietary technology and integrated processes, in the discovery of novel blood clotting factors. Under the agreement, any resulting commercially viable products will be developed and brought to market by Baxter AG.

"We are very proud that Baxter decided to choose GenOdyssee for the discovery of novel therapeutic proteins that may in the future present an important product in their portfolio," said Jean-Louis Escary, CEO of GenOdyssee. "Our unique science and Baxter's proven leadership in hemophilia are a winning combination, one which we hope will bring important new products forward to help the hemophilia community."

Financial terms and conditions of the agreement were not disclosed.

About GenOdyssee, S.A.

GenOdyssee is an innovative drug discovery company that is seeking to leverage its unique strength in protein therapeutics and natural genetic variation technologies to bring important new medicines to patients. GenOdyssee uses a unique population genetics-based approach to the discovery of next generation protein therapeutics with superior properties. The company pioneered the vision that natural evolution may have led to the generation in the current population of unpredictable mutations that confer superior or novel therapeutic status to known human therapeutic proteins.

GenOdyssee's technology is IP protected and is the sole property of the company. The corresponding international patent application has received the support from the European patent office regarding the patentability and novelty of GenOdyssee's technology. The technology is applicable to a very broad range of proteins of potential use in human therapy across many disease areas and may provide a wealth of next-generation protein therapeutics.

The company has applied such technology to the discovery of next-generation IFN alpha and EPO proteins, which allowed it to discover 2 lead IFN alpha products, GEA007.1 and GEA009.2, for applications in respectively, hepatitis C and immunotherapy treatments (vaccines and cancer), as well as a natural human erythropoietin (EPO) mutant, named GO-EPO, with improved potency compared to first generation human EPO alpha. In 2005 and 2006, these products received international granting in the EU and USA respectively.

Recently, GenOdyssee extended the genetic diversity of its proprietary collection of human DNA samples to 384 individuals which covers altogether >90% of the ethnic diversity of the human population. These genomes are screened for naturally occurring and inventive functionally relevant protein mutants using a stringent screening procedure based on sophisticated bio-informatics including functional annotation, molecular modeling calculations, and prediction of the mutation's impact on host protein structure. Expression and GLP production of selected protein variants are performed, followed by extensive evaluation of their pharmacological properties. Direct comparison is made between GenOdyssee's novel therapeutic candidates and the reference "wild-type" proteins on the market in models of human diseases.

The company has created an efficient, cost-saving driven, value creation model based on project management and outsourcing of its proprietary and integrated drug discovery process to highly skilled and experienced service providers, minimal internal fixed costs and a highly flexible structure. This low-burn model has proven successful and acceptable to industrial partners, and therefore it will be largely retained.

For more information about the company, please visit the company's website at www.genodyssee.com

Contact: Jean-Louis Escary, Chief Executive Officer, (+33)-(0)-6-16-41-68-57, escary@genodyssee.com

CONTACT: Contact: Jean-Louis Escary, Chief Executive Officer,(+33)-(0)-6-16-41-68-57, escary@genodyssee.com