SAN DIEGO, May 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Trega Biosciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: TRGA)
and Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Osaka, Japan, today announced that they have
signed an agreement to expand their relationship which began with their June
1997 collaboration focused on melanocortin receptor research for inflammatory
diseases. Under the terms of the new agreement Trega will create custom
combinatorial libraries, optimize lead compounds discovered by Ono and
undertake screening of those compounds in a different target of interest to
Ono in exchange for research funding and potential milestones and royalties.
Financial terms were not disclosed.
"We are pleased to expand our relationship with Ono by signing our second
agreement in less than one year," stated Robert S. Whitehead, Trega's chairman
and chief executive officer. "We entered into our first agreement in the
middle of 1997 and expect to deliver the results of our two year collaboration
commitment ahead of schedule. Our June 1997 agreement focused on the
discovery of small molecule agonists of one of the melanocortin receptors to
treat inflammatory diseases."
"This new agreement allows us to provide collaborative discovery expertise
to Ono in an entirely different area," Whitehead continued. "Expansion beyond
our existing collaboration reflects our commitment to deliver high quality,
integrated drug discovery technologies to pharmaceutical companies and build
on these relationships as partners become convinced of the effectiveness of
our approaches."
Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. is an Osaka, Japan-based pharmaceutical
company, focusing on research and development of novel drugs and is recognized
as a world leader in prostaglandins and enzyme inhibitors. Ono was
established in 1717 and is the 12th largest pharmaceutical company ranked by
sales in Japan with fiscal 1997 sales of Yen 126,460 million ($1.02 billion).
Trega Biosciences is a drug discovery company utilizing combinatorial
chemistry and other technologies to pursue the discovery of novel, small-
molecule drug therapies. The company leverages its technology platform by
entering into pharmaceutical alliances, which provide partners with access to
Trega's technologies in exchange for licensing fees and potential milestones
and royalties, or by establishing joint-discovery alliances with
pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. Trega also uses its drug
discovery technologies in its internal development programs, which are focused
today on discovering small molecules acting on melanocortin receptors.
Melanocortins are a newly discovered receptor pathway for the potential
treatment of inflammatory and metabolic diseases.
Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters
discussed in this news release are forward-looking statements that involve
risks and uncertainties, including whether this collaboration will be
successful, any additional collaborations or alliances will be agreed to,
formed or expanded, whether regulatory approvals can be obtained for products
discovered and developed, if any, the impact of competitive products and
pricing, whether any other corporate collaborations or alliances will be
successful, and other risks detailed from time to time in Trega's Securities
and Exchange Commission filings. These forward-looking statements represent
Trega's judgment as of the date of this release. Actual results may differ
materially from those projected. Trega disclaims, however, any intent or
obligation to update these forward-looking statements.
Trega's releases are on the World Wide Web at http://www.trega.com and PR
Newswire's fax-on-demand service at 1-800-758-5804, extension 374050.
SOURCE Trega Biosciences, Inc.
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Company News On-Call: http://www.prnewswire.com or
fax, 800-758-5804, ext. 374050
Related links:
http://www.trega.com
CONTACT:
Robert S. Whitehead, Chief Executive Officer,
619-410-6631, or Vince Reardon Director, Corporate
Communications, 619-410-6555
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