SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., June 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that it will make multiple presentations at the 2006 Targeting Ubiquitin for Drug Discovery and Development Conference, sponsored by the Strategic Research Institute, June 26th-27th, 2006, in Philadelphia.
Rigel is a leader in investigating and characterizing the ubiquitin ligase system for the discovery and development of potential new therapeutics. Rigel has discovered potent and selective compounds against various ligase targets, which represent a large and novel class of targets.
"Several large pharmaceutical companies are making significant investments in the ubiquitin ligase target class and have selected Rigel as their partner of choice. We have achieved numerous milestones with these partners as we have demonstrated the validity of ligases as a 'druggable' target class," said Donald G. Payan, M.D., executive vice president and chief scientific officer of Rigel. "As the kinase field matures in cancer, ligases may become an increasingly attractive target class in finding new cancer treatments."
Conference details on the presentations are as follows: Presentation Time: Tuesday, June 27th, 10:45 a.m. EDT Title: "Mechanisms of ubiquitin chain synthesis onto substrates of SCF ubiquitin ligases" Presenter: Matt Petroski, Research Scientist, Rigel Presentation Time: Tuesday, June 27th, 1:15 p.m. EDT Title: "Target Discovery and Development of Ubiquitylation Inhibitors" Presenter: Jianing Huang, Associate Director, HTS, Rigel Presentation Time: Tuesday, June 27th, 3:15 p.m. EDT Title: Technical Issues of E3 Drug Development Presenter: Panel Discussion (Jianing Huang and Matt Petroski panelists) Rigel's Ubiquitin Drug Discovery Program
Rigel has initiated one of the industry's broadest efforts in working on the development of numerous ligase targets in oncology, inflammation and virology. Rigel was among the first companies to discover potent and highly selective small molecule inhibitors of ubiquitin ligases. Rigel has a broad- based platform in the enzymology and biology of ubiquitin ligases which includes a large number of biochemical and cell-based assays to identify the specificity and selectivity of ligase targets. This infrastructure has been further expanded through collaborations with Merck and Daiichi. These collaborations are based on specific ligase targets. Rigel has an extensive patent portfolio covering the ligase area.
About Ubiquitin Ligases
Ubiquitin ligases are enzymes that regulate protein degradation within the cell. Breakdown of proteins, in turn, affects many important cellular functions, including cell division. Targeting ligases represents a novel approach to treating diseases where normal cellular processes are out of balance. Because unchecked cell division is the hallmark of cancer, researchers believe that this part of the cell machinery represents a particularly compelling target for cancer therapies. Ubiquitin ligase targets are numerous and modular. This provides the potential for intervening in a highly specific fashion in a disease, potentially improving efficacy and minimizing side effects.
About Rigel (www.rigel.com)
Rigel is a clinical-stage drug development company that discovers and develops novel, small-molecule drugs for the treatment of inflammatory diseases, cancer and viral diseases. Our goal is to file one new investigative new drug (IND) application in a significant indication each year. We have achieved this goal since 2002. Our pioneering research focuses on intracellular signaling pathways and related targets that are critical to disease mechanisms. Rigel's productivity has resulted in strategic collaborations with large pharmaceutical partners to develop and market our product candidates. We have product development programs in inflammatory/autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, thrombocytopenia, and asthma and allergy, as well as in cancer.
This press release contains "forward-looking" statements, including statements related to Rigel's plans to pursue clinical development of product candidates and the timing thereof, the potential efficacy of product candidates and the attractiveness of a target class. Any statements contained in this press release that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Words such as "plans," "intends," "expects," "anticipates" and similar expressions are intended to identify these forward- looking statements. There are a number of important factors that could cause Rigel's results to differ materially from those indicated by these forward- looking statements, including risks associated with the timing and success of clinical trials and the commercialization of product candidates, as well as other risks detailed from time to time in Rigel's SEC reports, including its Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2006. Rigel does not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements.
Contact: Raul Rodriguez of Rigel, +1-650-624-1302, or invrel@rigel.com; or Daryl Messinger of WeissComm Partners, Inc., +1-415-946-1062, or daryl@weisscommpartners.com, for Rigel.
Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20030226/RIGLLOGOAP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.orgPRN Photo Desk photodesk@prnewswire.comRigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc.CONTACT: Raul Rodriguez of Rigel, +1-650-624-1302, or invrel@rigel.com; orDaryl Messinger of WeissComm Partners, Inc., +1-415-946-1062, ordaryl@weisscommpartners.com, for Rigel
Web site: http://www.rigel.com//
