British Biotech and Serono renew anti-inflammatory research agreement
28 October 2002
British Biotech plc (LSE: BBG, NASDAQ: BBIOY) today announced that its research collaboration with the Swiss biotechnology company Serono SA (Virt-X: SEO, NYSE: SRA) has been extended for a further year. The aim of the collaboration is to discover new treatments for inflammatory diseases.
Formed in October 2000, the collaboration has made good progress screening British Biotech's library of patented metalloenzyme inhibitors against pathologically relevant targets. From this effort, a medicinal chemistry programme has enabled selective inhibitors to be identified that show activity against three enzyme targets involved in inflammation, and which are active in disease models. The aim in the third year of the collaboration will be to optimise the pharmacokinetic profile of these inhibitors in order to produce orally bioavailable compounds for clinical development.
The two companies will continue to share research costs equally, with costs of clinical development to be borne by Serono. Under the agreement, British Biotech will receive undisclosed milestone payments and royalties on any commercialised products. British Biotech also retains the right to co-fund product development and commercialisation for an improved return on sales.
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This news release contains forward-looking statements that reflect the Company's current expectations regarding future events. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. Actual events could differ materially from those projected herein and depend on a number of factors including the success of the Company's research strategies, the applicability of the discoveries made therein, the successful and timely completion of clinical studies and the uncertainties related to the regulatory process.
