Deal Allows For Potential Milestone Payments and Royalties
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C., Feb. 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Integrated
systems biology company Icoria, Inc. (Nasdaq: ICOR), announced today that it
has licensed to Syngenta Ltd. the exclusive rights to commercially develop 30
Icoria compounds believed to be active fungal inhibitors. Syngenta will
evaluate the compounds over the course of 18 months and Icoria expects that
Syngenta will select the most promising compounds for development and eventual
commercial use as agricultural fungicides. Syngenta also has the right to
commercially develop the compounds in human health care (antimicrobial use),
animal health, household products, and industrial applications.
Under the agreement, Icoria receives a modest upfront payment and will
receive milestone and royalty payments should Syngenta proceed with
development and commercialization of any Icoria compounds. Financial terms
were not disclosed.
"We are pleased that Syngenta recognizes the potential value of our
fungicide portfolio and may develop new products based on our compounds," said
Heinrich Gugger, Ph.D., President and CEO of Icoria. "This agreement is a
direct result of the fungicide discovery research activities and assay
development work we re-launched in early 2004 and we believe it demonstrates
the efficiency of our current target-based development approach."
"Syngenta as a leader in crop protection and crop disease control is
committed to innovation, and we are pleased that this agreement with Icoria
will boost the quality of our early stage pipeline," said Dr. Mike Bushell,
Head of Strategy and Technology at Syngenta.
Icoria has seven patents in its fungicide portfolio, including several
that cover methods for the rapid and systematic mutation of pathogenic fungi,
enabling the efficient identification of novel anti-fungal and fungicide
targets as well as novel biosynthetic and degradation pathways.
"Because fungi and other microbes can adapt and become resistant to
existing products, we see a continuing demand for new anti-fungals for crop
protection and human health," said Keith Davis, Ph.D., Vice President,
Agricultural Biotechnology at Icoria. "In particular, compounds with novel
modes of action are a high priority in the industry. Our approach is geared
towards identifying chemistries with new modes of action and is well suited
for enhancing a partner's product development pipeline."
Icoria, Inc. is a biotechnology company dedicated to deciphering the
complexity of biological processes through the application of systems biology
to identify biomarkers for drug discovery and development, diagnostics and to
develop novel agrichemicals. Icoria has major contracts with the National
Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, the Monsanto Company and Pioneer
Hi-Bred International, Inc. (a subsidiary of DuPont). Icoria also has a major
grant from the National Institute of Standards & Technology's Advanced
Technology Program. For more information, visit http://www.icoria.com.
Syngenta is a world-leading agribusiness committed to sustainable
agriculture through innovative research and technology. The company is a
leader in crop protection, and ranks third in the high-value commercial seeds
market. Sales in 2004 were approximately US$ 7.3 billion. Syngenta employs
more than 19,000 people in over 90 countries. Syngenta is listed on the Swiss
stock exchange (SYNN) and in New York (SYT). Further information is available
at http://www.syngenta.com.
This press release contains forward-looking statements including but not
limited to the Company's expectations for its systems biology platform and the
licensing agreement. Such forward-looking statements are based on
management's current expectations and are subject to a number of risks,
factors and uncertainties that may cause actual results, events and
performance to differ materially from those referred to in the forward-looking
statements. These risks, factors and uncertainties include, but are not
limited to, the suitability of these compounds for their intended end use,
Syngenta's decision regarding future development and commercialization of the
compounds and the impact of such decisions on potential milestone payments,
Icoria's early stage of development, history of net losses, technological and
product development uncertainties, reliance on research collaborations,
uncertainty of additional funding and ability to protect its patents and
proprietary rights. Certain of these and other risks are identified in
Icoria's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2003 and
in its quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2004,
each filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company does not
intend to update any of the forward-looking statements after the date of this
release to conform these statements to actual results or to changes in our
expectations, except as may be required by law.
SOURCE Icoria, Inc.
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Related links:
http://www.icoria.com
http://www.syngenta.com
CONTACT:
Media-Public Relations, Icoria, Inc.,
+1-919-425-2999, or Brian Ritchie or Mark Vincent of EURO RSCG
Life NRP, +1-212-845-4200
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