SAN DIEGO, Oct. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Trega Biosciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: TRGA)
today announced the expansion of a research collaboration in the area of
obesity and related diseases with Novartis Pharma AG of Basel, Switzerland.
Under this collaboration, which was originally entered into in May 1998, the
two companies initially focused on the identification, development and
commercialization of orally-active, small molecules for the treatment of
obesity, Type II diabetes and Syndrome X utilizing the melanocortin-4 (MC-4)
receptor pathway. The current effort expands the research to add a further,
undisclosed obesity-related biological target to the joint research program.
"We are pleased with the progress that has been made with the joint MC-4
program," said Karl G. Hofbauer, M.D., Therapeutic Area Head, Metabolic and
Cardiovascular Diseases, Novartis Pharma Research. "The discovery and
selection technologies Trega brings to the collaboration are very valuable to
our work. We look forward to continuing to work with Trega to identify
potential treatments in this important disease area."
"Trega has integrated its drug selection technologies with combinatorial
chemistry and screening to provide an effective drug discovery capability,"
stated Michael G. Grey, Trega's President and Chief Executive Officer. "We
are delighted to be working on an additional, exciting target with our
partner, Novartis."
The collaboration agreement signed in May 1998 provided a financial
package to Trega in the form of research support, pre-commercialization
milestones and royalties on net sales of products. Additionally, Novartis
purchased $7 million of Trega common stock in November 1998. Products
resulting from this collaboration will be clinically developed and exclusively
commercialized worldwide by Novartis. Financial terms of this expansion of
the collaboration were covered in the original agreement.
Trega Biosciences is focused on accelerating the process of drug discovery
from disease targets to clinical candidates by using small molecule
combinatorial chemistry, high throughput screening and predictive discovery
informatics to rapidly create novel drug candidates having greater chances of
clinical success. In combination with its wholly owned subsidiary, NaviCyte,
Trega offers integrated products and services spanning the drug discovery
process -- beginning with the synthesis of novel compounds to delivery of
uniquely qualified drug leads -- to the pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical
industries. Trega also uses its drug discovery technologies in its internal
development programs, which are focused on discovering small molecules acting
on melanocortin receptors, which may be important in the 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 any research programs will result
in a successful clinical candidate, whether any such candidate will be
successfully developed, whether any proposed product can be successfully
formulated, scaled-up, developed, and commercialized, whether regulatory
approvals can be obtained, the impact of competitive products and pricing,
whether any 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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CONTACT:
Gerard A Wills, Vice President of Finance and
CFO of Trega Biosciences, Inc., 858-410-6695
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