MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., July 24 /PRNewswire/ -- ChemoCentryx, Inc., a
clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing
and commercializing orally-administered therapeutics that target the
chemokine system, today announced that it has earned a $5 million milestone
payment from GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK) for progress in its small molecule
CCR1 product discovery and development program.
The milestone payment was triggered by the acceptance of ChemoCentryx'
orally bioavailable small molecule, CCX354, as a candidate for full
development. CCX354 selectively inhibits the chemokine receptor known as
'CCR1', a validated target for the treatment of certain autoimmune diseases
such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA), as well as other inflammatory diseases.
"GSK and ChemoCentryx' ideas around drug discovery are philosophically
aligned, which makes this a highly successful alliance," said Thomas J.
Schall, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of ChemoCentryx. "We
believe CCX354 may be well suited for the treatment of RA, given that
inflammatory cells expressing the CCR1 chemokine receptor are abundant in
inflamed joints of patients with arthritis. Also, unlike existing
injectable or infusible treatments for RA, CCX354 is designed as an oral
medicine which is highly potent and selective for the CCR1 target. This
approach provides advantages such as the potential to treat the devastating
effects of RA without the safety consequences sometimes seen by globally
suppressing the immune system, as happens with such current therapies as
the anti- TNF biologics available today. We look forward to conducting
additional preclinical and initial clinical studies to determine this
candidate's full potential in early 2008."
In preclinical studies, CCX354 has been shown to block the activity of
all known naturally occurring pro-inflammatory proteins that drive
CCR1-mediated inflammation. The compound also exhibits encouraging
pharmacokinetic properties, and is highly potent. Notably, CCX354 appears
to block only the activity of the CCR1 chemokine receptor -- without
binding to any other receptors -- which may minimize off-target side
effects.
"We are impressed with ChemoCentryx' high quality standards and
productivity. CCX354 is a promising small molecule candidate for the
treatment of inflammation underlying autoimmune conditions such as
rheumatoid arthritis," Hugh Cowley, Senior Vice President of GSK's Center
of Excellence for External Drug Discovery (CEEDD). "The ChemoCentryx
alliance represents the type of innovation that the CEEDD is committed to
fostering."
ChemoCentryx and GSK's Center of Excellence for External Drug Discovery
(CEEDD) entered into a multi-product strategic alliance in August 2006 for
the discovery, development and commercialization of novel medicines
targeting four defined chemokine and chemoattractant receptors for the
treatment of a variety of inflammatory disorders. Under the terms of
agreement, ChemoCentryx is responsible for the discovery and development of
up to six small molecule drug candidates across four targets through
clinical proof-of-concept, at which point GSK will have exclusive options
to license each product for further development and commercialization on a
worldwide basis.
About ChemoCentryx
ChemoCentryx, Inc. is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company
focused on discovering, developing and commercializing orally-administered
therapeutics that target the chemokine and chemoattractant systems in order
to treat autoimmune diseases, inflammatory disorders and cancer. The
chemokine system is a complex network of chemokine molecules, or ligands,
and receptors that regulates inflammation. Based on their proprietary drug
discovery and drug development platform, ChemoCentryx has internally
generated several clinical and preclinical-stage programs, each targeting
distinct chemokine and chemoattractant receptors with different small
molecule compounds. ChemoCentryx' lead compound, Traficet-EN(R), a specific
CCR9 antagonist, is currently in a multi-national clinical trial, called
PROTECT-1, in patients with moderate-to-severe Crohn's disease.
ChemoCentryx is privately held. For more information, please refer to
http://www.chemocentryx.com.
Any statements in this press release about ChemoCentryx' expectations,
beliefs, plans, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance are
not historical facts and are forward-looking statements. These statements
are often, but not always, made through the use of words or phrases such as
believe, will, expect, anticipate, estimate, intend, plan and would.
Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of performance. They involve
known and unknown risks, uncertainties and assumptions that may cause
actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to differ
materially from any results, levels of activity, performance or
achievements expressed or implied by any forward-looking statement. Some of
the risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause actual results to
differ materially from estimates or projections contained in the
forward-looking statements include but are not limited to (i) the timing,
success and cost of preclinical research and clinical studies, (ii) the
timing, acceptability and review periods for regulatory filings, (iii) the
availability of corporate partners, (iv) uncertainties relating to patent
protection and intellectual property rights of third parties, (v) the
impact of competitive products and technological changes, (vi) the
availability of capital and the cost of capital, (vii) other vagaries in
the biotechnology industry and (viii) other risks. ChemoCentryx undertakes
no obligation to update or revise any forward- looking statements.
SOURCE ChemoCentryx, Inc.
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Related links:
http://www.chemocentryx.com
CONTACT:
Susan M. Kanaya, Senior Vice President,
Finance and Chief Financial Officer, or Markus J. Cappel, Ph.D.,
Chief Business Officer, both of ChemoCentryx, Inc.
+1-650-210-2900, investor@chemocentryx.com; or Media, Karen L.
Bergman, +1-650-575-1509, or Michelle Corral, +1-415-794-8662,
both of BCC Partners, for ChemoCentryx, Inc.
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