Multi-Product Collaboration to Target Autoimmune Diseases, Cancer and
Infectious Diseases
FREMONT, Calif., March 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Abgenix, Inc. (Nasdaq: ABGX)
today announced a collaboration with Corixa Corporation (Nasdaq: CRXA), a
Seattle based biotechnology company, to discover and develop human monoclonal
antibodies against selected targets from Corixa's library of proprietary
autoimmune disease, cancer and infectious disease antigens.
Under the terms of the agreement, Corixa will be contributing three
targets initially and up to six targets a year during the six-year agreement.
Abgenix will contribute its XenoMouse(TM) technology to the collaboration to
generate, screen and characterize human monoclonal antibodies directed against
Corixa's antigens. Corixa, and in some cases Abgenix, will then be responsible
for determining whether the characterized antibodies have an immunotherapeutic
effect in tissue culture experiments and in animal models of human disease.
When antibodies are jointly determined to be worthy of clinical
investigation, Corixa and Abgenix will hold a closed auction between the two
companies for the rights to develop the specific antibody-based product. The
company with the winning bid will pay the bid amount in cash to the other
company and will be responsible at that point in time for all product
development expenses and decisions. The non-development party will receive a
share of future product development milestone payments and a small royalty on
future product sales.
"We are pleased to be entering into this broad-based collaboration with
Abgenix," said Steven Gillis, Ph.D., chairman and chief executive officer of
Corixa. "We have been impressed with Abgenix's XenoMouse technology and view
this innovative collaboration as a novel means of capitalizing on Corixa's and
Abgenix's capabilities to create what we believe will be a powerful product
development engine for both companies. The auction structure of the
relationship provides a pre-determined split of downstream product development
rights and benefits for all eventual products. The relationship allows each
company to develop those products that it finds most interesting or of
greatest strategic value, in keeping with the partners' capabilities and
financial resources at the time. This agreement further extends the reach of
immunotherapeutic products powered by Corixa technology."
"Corixa has assembled a wide range of antigen discovery technologies that
distinguish the company from other vaccine developers," said R. Scott Greer,
president and CEO of Abgenix. "We believe that the marriage of Corixa's
antigens with our XenoMouse technology for rapid generation of fully human
monoclonal antibodies represents an exciting opportunity for both companies.
We look forward to a productive relationship that could result in the
discovery and commercialization of multiple novel products for use in the
treatment of autoimmune disease, cancer and infectious disease."
The collaboration will be managed by a joint steering committee made up of
an equal number of representatives from both companies. The steering committee
will be responsible for acceptance of Corixa antigens into the partnership,
resource allocation, and determination of which resultant antibodies pass
through to the auction process.
Abgenix now has 18 partners using its XenoMouse technology to generate
human antibody products in arrangements where the partner is responsible for
product development and commercialization. Abgenix also uses the technology to
generate its own antibody products. The company believes that a key to keeping
its internal product pipeline robust is having access to high quality antigen
targets.
"Over the past three months, Abgenix has moved aggressively to secure
access to proprietary antigen targets appropriate for antibody therapy,"
continued Greer. "Our collaborations with Corixa, Curagen and Human Genome
Sciences all provide us with access to antigen targets against which we can
generate antibody product candidates for internal development."
About Abgenix
Abgenix is a biopharmaceutical company that develops and intends to
commercialize antibody therapies for the treatment of such conditions as
transplant-related diseases, inflammatory and autoimmune disorders,
cardiovascular disease, infectious diseases, and cancer. For more information
on Abgenix, visit the company's Web site at http://www.abgenix.com.
Abgenix developed XenoMouse technology to enable the rapid generation of
high affinity, fully human antibody product candidates to essentially any
disease target appropriate for antibody therapy. Abgenix has collaborative
arrangements with multiple pharmaceutical, genomics and biotechnology
companies involving its XenoMouse technology. In addition, Abgenix has
multiple proprietary antibody product candidates under development internally,
three of which are in human clinical trials for graft-versus-host disease,
psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, and cancer.
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,
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CONTACT:
Kurt Leutzinger, Chief Financial Officer of
Abgenix Inc., 510-608-6575
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