VANCOUVER, May 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - Inex Pharmaceuticals Corporation announced today that on Friday April 28, 2006, INEX and certain of its directors and officers filed Statements of Defence in response to a claim filed by Protiva Biotherapeutics Inc. (“Protiva”) in the Supreme Court of British Columbia. INEX also filed a Counterclaim against Protiva. These legal filings can be accessed on the INEX website at www.inexpharm.com.
The dispute with Protiva is over the rights to certain drug delivery technology for the delivery of a class of drugs called oligonucleotides, including small interfering RNA (siRNA). Protiva, a private biotechnology company, was spun-out from INEX in 2001 along with certain intellectual property rights to use INEX’s drug delivery technology only for the delivery of gene plasmids in the pursuit of developing gene therapy products. As part of these 2001 agreements that formed Protiva, INEX retained all rights to the delivery of olignucleotides, including siRNA. INEX holds a minority interest in Protiva.
Pursuant to rights INEX has under agreements with Protiva, INEX believes that any technology advancements made by Protiva and its collaborators or by INEX for the delivery of oligonucleotides, including siRNA, are either owned by INEX or should be licensed to INEX on an exclusive, worldwide, paid-up and royalty-free basis.
Under its Targeted Immunotherapy platform, INEX is developing oligonucleotide drugs for a number of different applications. INEX recently signed a research collaboration with Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc. (“Alnylam”) to bring together INEX’s expertise in the systemic delivery of oligonucleotides and Alnylam’s expertise in RNAi therapeutics and siRNA.
Timothy M. Ruane, President and Chief Executive Officer of INEX, said INEX is confident of its rights under the 2001 agreements that created Protiva for the advancement of gene therapy products. “We believe Protiva has been working in an area of technology that they do not have rights to. We intend to vigorously defend our rights with respect to our technology for the delivery of oligonucleotides, including siRNA.”
About INEX
INEX is a Canadian biopharmaceutical company developing and commercializing proprietary drugs and drug delivery systems to improve the treatment of cancer. Further information about INEX can be found at www.inexpharm.com.
INEX Forward Looking Statements
There are forward-looking statements contained herein that are not based on historical fact, including without limitation statements containing the words “believes,” “may,” “plans,” “will,” “estimate,” “continue,” “anticipates,” “intends,” “expects,” and similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, events or developments to be materially different from any future results, events or developments expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others, INEX’s stage of development, lack of product revenues, additional capital requirements, risks associated with the completion of clinical trials and obtaining regulatory approval to market INEX’s products, the ability to protect its intellectual property and dependence on collaborative partners. These factors should be considered carefully and readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. The Company disclaims any obligation to update any such factors or to publicly announce the result of any revisions to any of the forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect future results, events or developments.
Contact Information Investors Ian Mortimer Vice President Finance and Chief Financial Officer Phone: 604-419-3200 Email: info@inexpharm.com Website: www.inexpharm.com Media Karen Cook James Hoggan & Associates Inc. Phone: 604-739-7500 Email: kcook@hoggan.com
Inex Pharmaceuticals Corporation
CONTACT: Investors: Ian Mortimer, Vice President, Finance and ChiefFinancial Officer, Phone: (604) 419-3200, Email: info@inexpharm.com,Website: www.inexpharm.com; Media: Karen Cook, James Hoggan & AssociatesInc., Phone: (604) 739-7500, Email: kcook@hoggan.com
