Epicyte and Dow Enter a Research and Development Collaboration with Centocor
Using an antibody developed by Centocor, Dow will produce the antibody using Epicyte's Plantibody technology for producing human monoclonal antibodies in plants. Dow will provide its proprietary gene expression technologies, crop production expertise and corn processing capabilities.
"Monoclonal antibodies make up 25 percent of the new drugs in development and are used to prevent and treat human and animal diseases," said Christopher Clement, CEO of Epicyte. "Through this agreement with Centocor, a leader in the development of therapeutic antibodies, we expect to demonstrate the value of our Plantibody technology as an efficient and economical alternative manufacturing technology."
"Dow brings to this project expression-system technology from Dow AgroSciences," said Kurt Hoeprich, Dow director of Market Development for Plant-based Biopharmaceuticals. "This technology, combined with Dow's expertise in process engineering, environmental and regulatory compliance, will be a valuable asset for producing antibodies."
Epicyte, Dow and Dow AgroSciences LLC (a wholly owned subsidiary of The Dow Chemical Company) formed a research and licensing agreement in September of 2000 to develop and produce monoclonal antibodies in plant-based systems. Plant-based systems may provide capital cost savings, reduce the cost of goods for more complex antibody types, and prove scalable to much greater production volumes than mammalian cell systems. Epicyte has five antibody products in development in its core areas of infectious disease and sexual health, including products to protect against the transmission of Herpes Simplex Virus 1 and 2 and HIV and an anti-sperm antibody to prevent conception.
Dow is a leading science and technology company that provides innovative chemical, plastic and agricultural products and services to many essential consumer markets. With annual sales of $30 billion, Dow serves customers in 170 countries and a wide range of markets that are vital to human progress. Committed to the principles of sustainable development, Dow and its 50,000 employees seek to balance economic, environmental and social responsibilities. For additional information visit www.dow.com.
Epicyte Pharmaceutical, Inc., founded in 1996, is a San Diego-based company developing antibody products for infectious disease and sexual health using its Plantibody technology. The company has extensive intellectual property for production of antibodies in plants licensed from The Scripps Research Institute. More information about Epicyte is available at www.epicyte.com.
Note: This news release contains forward-looking statements based on the current expectations, estimates, and projections of the respective managements of each company. All statements that are not strictly historical, or that address expectations or projections about the future, including, but not limited to, the ability, speed and cost-effectiveness to develop and produce these pharmaceutical products, and statements about the companies' strategies for product development, expected timing for commercialization, and market position are forward-looking statements. Some of the forward-looking statements may be identified by words such as "expects," "anticipates," "plans," "intends," "projects," "indicates," "look forward," "opportunity," "potential," and similar expressions. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Many factors, including those discussed more fully elsewhere in this release and in the companies' filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission could cause results to differ materially from those stated. These factors include, but are not limited to, (a) risks associated with Epicyte's new and uncertain technologies; (b) the companies' dependence on patents and proprietary rights and protection and enforcement of their patents and proprietary rights; (c) the development and availability of competitive products or technologies; (d) changes in the laws, regulations, policies and economic conditions of countries in which the companies do business; (e) competitive pressures; (f) successful integration of structural changes, including acquisitions, mergers, divestitures and alliances; (g) research and development of new products, including regulatory approval and market acceptance; and (h) the ability of the companies to successfully develop and commercialize new products.