SAN DIEGO (February 22, 1999) -- Aurora Biosciences Corporation (Nasdaq:ABSC) today announced an agreement to provide a dedicated screen development and technology transfer resource to F.Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd. The agreement provides for screen development for up to 12 Roche targets in the first year.
Aurora will provide screen development and technology transfer support for a team at Aurora and at Roche's research facilities globally. In addition to the payments for screen development, technology transfer services and licenses, Roche will make research and development payments to Aurora for compounds identified through screens generated under the collaboration, and royalties if compounds are commercialized.
"Our business strategy was predicated on increased revenues from providing screen development and screening services using our proprietary technology for a broad range of companies in multiple discovery programs," said Timothy J. Rink, M.D., Sc.,D, Aurora's chairman, chief executive officer and president. "This agreement with Roche uses a new collaborative structure which we believe provides a substantial return to Aurora with incentives to both companies for increasing productivity and expanding the use of Aurora's technology."
"One of the questions we must ask of drug discovery technologies is the breadth of their applicability and their potential impact on the discovery of new drugs," said Richard Eglen, vice president and director, Roche Palo Alto. "Aurora's leading edge technologies have proven to be broadly applicable and the terms of this agreement encourage their broad use."
Aurora designs and develops proprietary drug discovery systems, services and technologies to accelerate and enhance the discovery of new medicines. Aurora is developing an integrated technology platform comprised of a portfolio of proprietary fluorescent assay technologies and an UHTSS™ platform designed to allow assay miniaturization and to overcome many of the limitations associated with the traditional drug discovery process. The Company believes that the UHTSS™ platform will enable Aurora and its collaborators to take advantage of the opportunities created by recent advances in genomics and combinatorial chemistry that have generated many new therapeutic targets and an abundance of new, small molecule compounds. Current collaborators include Merck & Co., Inc., Warner-Lambert, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., Eli Lilly and Company, Pharmacia & Upjohn, Inc., and Cytovia, Inc.
Statements in this press release that are not strictly historical are "forward-looking" statements which involve a high degree of risk and uncertainty. Such forward-looking statements include statements regarding the ability of Aurora to develop and deliver screens and perform screening services as required under the collaboration. Such statements are only predictions and the actual events or results may differ materially from those projected in such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to differences include risks involved with the Company's new and uncertain technology, uncertainties regarding the receipt of future milestone and royalty payments, risks associated with the dependence on patents and proprietary rights, the ability to attract additional collaborative partners, dependence on existing pharmaceutical and biotechnology collaborations, and the development or availability of competing systems. These factors and others are more fully described in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 1997 and subsequent Forms 10-Q, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission..
