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MRC Technology Enters Into an Exclusive License Agreement With Genentech

Monday, July 12, 2010 News on IT in Healthcare
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LONDON, July 12, 2010 MRC Technology (UK) announced todaythat it has entered into an agreement with Genentech, Inc., a wholly ownedmember of the Roche Group (SIX: RO, ROG; OTCQX: RHHBY) for an exclusivelicence to a series of small molecule drug candidates for the potentialtreatment of neurological disease.
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This is the first small molecule chemistry programme to come out of MRCTechnology's Centre for Therapeutics Discovery (CTD) and the first majorsmall molecule collaboration the CTD has formed with an industry partner.
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Under the terms of the agreement, MRC Technology will receive an upfrontpayment and is eligible to receive clinical development milestone paymentsand royalties on sales. Full financial terms and the target of the smallmolecule project have not been disclosed.

Working with investigators funded through UK's Medical Research Council,MRC Technology's CTD initiated a small molecule drug discovery programme thatincluded medicinal chemistry, biology, analytical and DMPK ComputationalChemistry. CTD was formed one year ago from the MRC Technology Drug DiscoveryGroup, expanding its capability and capacity to provide the UK with anational drug discovery resource with the critical mass to progress highquality projects towards clinical benefit. MRC Technology works with targetsnot only from the UK's Medical Research Council but has a pipeline of targetsfrom academic organisations worldwide.

Dr Dave Tapolczay, CEO of MRC Technology, said, "We are delighted that wehave been able to partner this programme with Genentech, and extremelypleased that the terms of our agreement reflect the value of the smallmolecule drug discovery programme and support our innovative business model."

"This licensing deal is just one example of the innovative ways that MRCTechnology is now exploiting both its small molecule and therapeutic antibodycapabilities. We can collaborate with other technology transferorganizations, on a shared risk basis, to develop small molecule drugdiscovery programmes and targets with therapeutic potential. When theresulting clinical candidate is subsequently licensed, both parties will notonly accomplish their translational research aims, but also share in itscommercial success going forward."

Notes to Editors

About Genentech

Founded more than 30 years ago, Genentech is a leading biotechnologycompany that discovers, develops, manufactures and commercializes medicinesto treat patients with serious or life-threatening medical conditions. Thecompany, a member of the Roche Group, has headquarters in South SanFrancisco, California. For additional information about the company, pleasevisit http://www.gene.com.

About Medical Research Council Technology (MRC Technology)

MRC Technology is the exclusive commercialisation agent for the UKMedical Research Council, working to translate cutting edge scientificdiscoveries into commercial products. It is now the most successful academichealthcare technology transfer organization in the world (AUTM Licensingsurvey 2007).

MRC Technology bridges the gap between innovative basic science andmaking medicine. It works to provide drug-like candidate molecules toinnovative new drug targets, and to translate innovative antibody-based drugtargets into potent and selective therapeutic antibody candidates givingpharmaceutical and biotechnology companies new starting points for drugdiscovery and development, based on MRC advances in science.

MRC Technology's Centre for Therapeutics Discovery (CTD) collaborateswith academic scientists to develop drug discovery projects targetingdiseases for which there is significant unmet need. It applies state of theart computational and medicinal chemistry to produce "drug-like" moleculeswith the potential to become therapies. Scientists from academia benefit fromthe wealth of the CTD's expertise including provision of tool compounds andreagents (including monoclonal antibodies) for further target validation andcharacterization studies, in silico screening, and access to medicinalchemistry, screening technologies and ADMET. CTD will also provide academiaaccess to its hybridoma production capability and its extensive antibodyengineering and expression expertise as well as its core antibodyhumanization skills. This initiative will also enable UK scientists to tapinto MRC's recently announced Developmental Pathway Funding Scheme (DPFS) andcollaborate with a high quality drug discovery capability whilst retainingexisting IP ownership.Media contact: Medical Research Council Technology: Jan Coates Business Development Officer MRC Technology E-mail: [email protected] Phone: +44(0)20-7391-2773 Website: http://www.mrctechnology.org

SOURCE MRC Technology
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