RIBOZYME SIGNS FIRST GENETIC THERAPEUTIC TARGET DISCOVERY DEAL WITH ROCHE BIOSCIENCE
BOULDER, Colo., and PALO ALTO, Calif., May 20, 1998 -- Ribozyme Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (RPI) (NASDAQ:RZYM) and Roche Bioscience today announced the signing of a major research collaboration, focusing on the use of ribozymes to discover novel genetic therapeutic targets.
The collaboration will utilize the special selectivity of ribozymes to discover critical genes in several disease pathways and select new therapeutic agents based on those targets. RPI has created a novel process to discover genes by using a proprietary combinatorial ribozyme library approach. This allows researchers to identify critical genes by their phenotype without prior knowledge of their sequences. According to the agreement, RPI will provide its expertise in ribozyme design, synthesis and delivery, and Roche Bioscience will provide in vivo models, clinical development and commercialization. Roche Bioscience will have the rights to commercialize small-molecule and ribozyme-based therapeutics against validated targets arising from the collaboration. RPI will have certain limited rights to commercialize ribozyme-based therapeutics against targets validated in the collaboration.
Roche Bioscience will provide Ribozyme with research and development and financial support. While financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed, Roche Bioscience will pay milestones and royalties on the development and commercialization of resulting therapeutics. "The use of Ribozyme target discovery technology may reduce the time required to identify critical genes that play a vital role in the disease pathway," said Robert Booth, Ph.D., senior vice president and head of the Roche Bioscience Inflammatory Diseases Unit. "We anticipate that this will accelerate our ability to generate new therapeutics."
"This is RPI's fourth partnership in the area of functional genomics, but the first utilizing our proprietary ribozyme libraries for target discovery," said Ralph Christoffersen, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer of RPI. "This collaboration is consistent with RPI's strategy to offer ribozyme target validation screening capabilities to multiple partners. We believe that our ribozyme target validation technology goes beyond determination of biological function of genes, and forms a natural and significant extension of genome sequencing efforts. Target validation and the development of ribozyme-based therapeutics against these targets are an important part of RPI's strategy for ribozyme commercialization, and it is a pleasure for RPI to initiate this collaboration with Roche Bioscience, which brings significant expertise and resources to the collaboration. We look forward to the discovery and validation of many new therapeutic targets and the creation of new products."
According to RPI, the company has a strong patent position on the basic ribozyme technology. The key ribozyme technology patents (U.S. Patents No. 4,987,071; 5,037,746; 5,093,246; 5, 116, 742; 5,354,855; and 5,591,610; European Patent No. 0 291 533; Japan Patent No. 2530906) have been issued in each of the major markets of the developed world. "Any entity that is interested in commercializing ribozymes, including their use in target validation and discovery, must first obtain a license from RPI," said Alene Holzman, general manager of Target Validation and Discovery Business for RPI.
RPI, located in Boulder, Colorado, is a public company that was founded to capitalize on the broad potential of ribozymes for use as human therapeutics and in other areas, including the identification of gene function and therapeutic target validation. The Company has entered into collaborations with Chiron Corporation to develop ribozyme therapeutics; with Schering AG, Germany, Chiron and Parke-Davis for the identification of gene function and therapeutic target validation; with Dow Elanco for commercialization of certain ribozyme-based agricultural products; with Pharmacia Biotech AB on the production-scale synthesis of modified RNA components; with Protogene Laboratories to develop automated equipment for large scale production of ribozymes; and with IntelliGene Corporation for development of ribozyme-based diagnostics.
Located in Palo Alto, Calif., Roche Bioscience is a research-based, business-oriented enterprise dedicated to the discovery and early clinical development of innovative prescription drugs. Roche Bioscience is part of the Roche Group, headquartered in Basel, Switzerland. The Roche Bioscience website is available at www.roche.come/bioscience.
This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, and actual events or results my differ materially. These risk factors include actions by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, technological advances, ability to commercialize and manufacture products and general economic condition. These and additional risk factors are identified in RPI's annual report to the Securities and Exchange Commission filed on forms 10-KSB and in RPI's SEC filings.
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