Up to 15 Antibody Product Candidates Now Included
FREMONT, Calif., Jan. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Abgenix, Inc. (Nasdaq: ABGX)
announced today the inclusion of up to 10 additional antigen targets under an
eight-year extension of its human antibody collaboration with Pfizer, Inc.
(NYSE: PFE), raising the possible total product candidates to 15. Pfizer will
be responsible for product development, manufacturing and marketing of any
products developed through the collaboration. Abgenix will receive a fee to
extend the agreement, and could continue to receive for each product,
potential research fees, a license fee and milestone payments, plus royalties
on any future product sales.
This represents the second expansion of Abgenix's research collaboration
with Pfizer, which began in December 1997 to provide Pfizer a license to
XenoMouse(TM) technology for the generation of fully human antibodies to
Pfizer's antigen targets. The original agreement for three antibody product
candidates was expanded in February 2000 to include two additional antibody
product candidates.
In October 2000, the collaboration with Pfizer produced the first antibody
product candidate from a XenoMouse technology collaboration in which an IND
was filed with the FDA.
"We are pleased with Pfizer's commitment to add ten new targets to our
collaboration," stated R. Scott Greer, chairman and chief executive officer of
Abgenix. "Pfizer was our first XenoMouse partner and we are encouraged by
their success with the technology."
Abgenix is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and
commercialization of antibody therapies for a variety of diseases. The
company developed XenoMouse(TM) technology to enable the rapid generation of
high affinity, fully human antibody product candidates to essentially any
disease target appropriate for antibody therapy. Abgenix uses its XenoMouse
technology to build a large and diversified product portfolio through the
establishment of licensing arrangements with multiple pharmaceutical,
biotechnology and genomics companies and through the development of its own
internal proprietary products. For more information on Abgenix, visit the
company's website at http://www.abgenix.com.
Statements made in this press release about Abgenix's XenoMouse
technology, product development activities and collaborative arrangements
other than statements of historical fact, are forward looking statements and
are subject to a number of uncertainties that could cause actual results to
differ materially from the statements made, including risks associated with
the success of clinical trials, the progress of research and product
development programs, the regulatory approval process, competitive products,
future capital requirements and the extent and breadth of Abgenix's patent
portfolio. Please see Abgenix's public filings with the Securities and
Exchange Commission for information about risks that may affect Abgenix.
SOURCE Abgenix, Inc.
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http://www.abgenix.com
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http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/126548.html or fax,
800-758-5804, ext. 126548
CONTACT:
Ina Cu-Unjieng, Manager, Investor/Public
Relations of Abgenix, Inc., 510-608-4662
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