TURKU, FINLAND--(Marketwire - August 28, 2009) -
BIOTIE THERAPIES CORP. STOCK EXCHANGE RELEASE August 28, 2009 at 09:00 a.m.
Biotie Reaches Milestone in Wyeth Collaboration
Biotie announced today that it has reached a milestone in its collaboration with Wyeth for the development of PDE10 (phosphodiesterase 10) inhibitors for schizophrenia, triggering a USD 1.0 million milestone payment to Biotie.
Timo Veromaa, President and CEO of Biotie said “We are pleased with the progress we have made in collaboration with Wyeth on the PDE10 inhibitor program and look forward to beginning our work together in the clinic. We believe this partnership provides further validation for our PDE platform technology, which has already provided us with one active clinical program and several pre-clinical programs.”
PDE10 is a novel CNS drug target that is thought to play an important role in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. Biotie has demonstrated that inhibitors of PDE10 display promising antipsychotic activity in experimental models, indicating the potential for a superior efficacy and tolerability profile versus current standard therapies. Data from these studies has recently been presented for the first time at the American Chemical Society Fall National Meeting in Washington DC (August 16 - 20). Additional data will also be presented at the Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting in Chicago, IL (October 17 - 21).
Turku, August 28, 2009 Biotie Therapies Corp. Timo Veromaa President and CEO
For further information, please contact: Virve Nurmi, Biotie Therapies Corp. tel. +358 2 274 8900, e-mail: www.biotie.com Distribution: NASDAQ OMX Helsinki Ltd Main Media Biotie Therapies Corp.
Biotie is a drug discovery and development company focused on central nervous system and inflammatory diseases. It has a broad range of innovative small molecule and biological drug candidates at different stages of clinical and pre-clinical development. Biotie’s products address diseases with high unmet medical need and significant market potential, including addiction and psychotic disorders, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The most advanced product, nalmefene for alcohol dependence, is currently in phase III clinical development by licensing partner H. Lundbeck A/S.
The commercial value of the pipeline has been demonstrated through existing alliances with top-tier global pharmaceutical companies such as Lundbeck, Roche and Wyeth. Biotie has operations in Turku, Finland and Radebeul, Germany.
Biotie shares are listed on NASDAQ OMX Helsinki Ltd.
For more information, please refer to www.biotie.com
Biotie agreement with Wyeth
Under the terms of the research collaboration and license agreement between Biotie and Wyeth, Biotie is eligible for up to USD 110 million in funding related to the initial signing fee, research funding and milestone payments. Biotie is also eligible to receive royalties on sales following commercialization.
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a chronic, severe and disabling disorder of the central nervous system affecting up to one percent of the population. The disease is characterized by hallucinations, social withdrawal, and deficits in cognition and memory. Current treatments are mostly efficacious in the treatment of hallucinations but have insufficient efficacy for social withdrawal and may have intolerable side effects including weight gain, diabetes, movement disorders and anxiety disorders.
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