Cantab, MCCC To Fund Phogen Biotechnology For Third Year
Cantab Pharmaceuticals (Cambridge, UK) and Marie Curie Cancer Care (MCCC; London) will renew their financial support for Phogen (Cambridge, UK), a biotechnology company, for an additional year.
Phogen, created as a joint venture by Cantab and MCCC in February 1997, develops drug delivery systems using technology based on the VP22 protein, which is potentially a highly effective system to transport molecules into the nuclei of cells. The company intends to use the VP22 protein to introduce potentially therapeutic molecules into cells, and the technology is applicable in a wide range of fields including gene therapy. Under the funding extension, this application of VP22 technology will become a major research focus.
Cantab funded the Phogen joint venture for the initial two years, and MCCC granted Phogen exclusive access to VP22 technology and its underlying intellectual property. In addition to a 50% voting stake in Phogen, Cantab received exclusive access to applications of VP22 in the field of immunomodulation of cancer and a range of infectious diseases.
Under terms of the extension agreement, which will take effect on July 1, 1999, Cantab and MCCC will each contribute half of the resource to support Phogen in its third year. The agreement also includes an option to provide joint funding for a fourth year from July 1, 2000. Under the extension to the agreement, Cantab and MCCC will continue to hold equal shares of the voting equity in Phogen.
MCCC is a UK cancer care charity, providing specialist care to people with cancer, and supporting the Marie Curie Research Institute (MCRI; Surrey, England).
Cantab, a biotechnical company, develops products for the treatment and prevention of chronic infectious diseases, cancer, and substance addiction through the use of its proprietary antigen and gene delivery systems.
For more information: Cantab Pharmaceuticals, 184 Cambridge Science Park, Milton Rd., Cambridge CB4 4GN, UK. Tel: +44-1223-423-413. Fax: +44-1223-423-458.