COLLEGEVILLE, Pa., Dec. 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, a division of Wyeth (NYSE: WYE), announced today that it has acquired Thiakis Limited, a privately held biotechnology company based in the United Kingdom. Thiakis' lead product candidate, TKS1225, is being studied for the treatment of medical obesity* and other co-morbidities. TKS1225 and related compounds are synthetic versions of the natural gastrointestinal peptide oxyntomodulin.
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Under the terms of the transaction, Wyeth acquires Thiakis for approximately $30 million. Additional payments of up to approximately $120 million would be payable upon the achievement of certain development milestones.
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"This acquisition is evidence of our commitment to develop and bring to market innovative, high-value medicines that have the potential to address significant unmet needs in critical therapeutic areas such as metabolic disorders," says Mikael Dolsten, M.D., Ph.D., President, Wyeth Research. "Thiakis' research and development program fits well with our goal of addressing the medical burden of obesity in a targeted manner using biologic-based therapies."
Wyeth has significant ongoing research in metabolic diseases and is a leader in the development and commercialization of biotechnology-based drugs.
"As we take this important step with Wyeth, we are certain we have chosen the right company to follow through on our vision and commitment to develop and commercialize important new therapies that help address the growing worldwide medical epidemic of obesity," says John Burt, D.Phil. ACMA, Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Thiakis.
About Obesity, TKS1225 and Thiakis
Based on World Health Organization estimates, globally at least 300 million are obese. Excess body weight is associated with numerous medical conditions including Type 2 diabetes, hypertension, stroke, cardiovascular disease, respiratory problems, gallbladder disease, osteoarthritis and sleep apnea.
Oxyntomodulin is a 37 amino acid peptide. Its role in the control of appetite has recently emerged.** TKS1225 is a novel, long-acting synthetic peptide analogue of oxyntomodulin in early clinical development for medical obesity.
* Defined as a BMI greater than or equal to 30 or a BMI greater than or equal to 27 when associated with comorbid conditions
** Wynne et al, Diabetes (2005) 54 2390-2395
Thiakis Limited was founded in 2004 in London, UK with a focus on developing novel medicines for the treatment of obesity and co-morbidities based on original research conducted by Professor Steve Bloom and his colleagues at Imperial College London. Major investors have included life sciences venture capital firms Advent Venture Partners, Imperial Innovations and Novo A/S.
About Wyeth
Wyeth is one of the world's largest research-driven pharmaceutical and health care products companies. It is a leader in the discovery, development, manufacturing and marketing of pharmaceuticals, vaccines, biotechnology products and non-prescription medicines that improve the quality of life for people worldwide. The Company's major divisions include Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, Wyeth Consumer Healthcare and Fort Dodge Animal Health.
The statements in this press release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. These risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, the inherent uncertainty of the timing and success of, and expense associated with, research, development, regulatory approval and commercialization of our products and pipeline products; government cost-containment initiatives; restrictions on third-party payments for our products; substantial competition in our industry, including from branded and generic products; emerging data on our products and pipeline products; the importance of strong performance from our principal products and our anticipated new product introductions; the highly regulated nature of our business; product liability, intellectual property and other litigation risks and environmental liabilities; uncertainty regarding our intellectual property rights and those of others; difficulties associated with, and regulatory compliance with respect to, manufacturing of our products; risks associated with our strategic relationships; economic conditions including interest and currency exchange rate fluctuations; changes in generally accepted accounting principles; trade buying patterns; the impact of legislation and regulatory compliance; risks and uncertainties associated with global operations and sales; and other risks and uncertainties, including those detailed from time to time in our periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our current reports on Form 8-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and annual report on Form 10-K, particularly the discussion under the caption "Item 1A, Risk Factors" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2007, which was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 29, 2008. The forward-looking statements in this press release are qualified by these risk factors. We assume no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.
SOURCE Wyeth
