Beaufour Ipsen and Roche to develop jointly and market Beaufour Ipsen’s novel anticancer drugs

Roche’s pipeline strengthened, with a fifth oncology transaction including a product in phase II Roche and Beaufour Ipsen (Paris, France) announced today that they have signed a global agreement to co-develop and market Beaufour Ipsen’s new anticancer candidates. Roche will have worldwide rights, excluding Europe, to market two Beaufour Ipsen products in development (diflomotecan and BN80927). Beaufour Ipsen retains these rights for Europe. In addition, mutual rights have been granted to future follow-on products in the same chemical family, the homocamptothecines, a new class of anticancer molecules discovered by Beaufour Ipsen.

Diflomotecan, which is entering Phase II clinical development, and a second compound (BN80927), currently in pre-clinical development, are being assessed for their efficacy in solid tumours, including colorectal, lung and breast cancer. Combination studies of diflomotecan and Roche’s Xeloda are expected to begin during the first quarter of 2003.

Diflomotecan is the first of a new generation of topoisomerase-1 inhibitors, with a proven mechanism of action, improved safety and efficacy profile. The second compound, BN80927, has a novel mechanism of action, including dual inhibition of topoisomerases I and II, and will be developed for a broad spectrum of indications.

"We are very pleased that Beaufour Ipsen has selected Roche to commercialise these promising drug candidates, especially in the US oncology market. With the completion of our fifth oncology deal this year and the continuous progress of our in-house pipeline, the strength of our portfolio continues to increase." said William M. Burns, Roche’s Head of Pharmaceuticals.

"We are delighted to be working with such a world class company and one of the world’s leading oncology companies to develop and market novel topoisomerase inhibitors discovered by Beaufour Ipsen" said Jean-Luc Belingard, CEO of the Beaufour Ipsen Group.


Financial Terms
Under the terms of the agreement Roche will have all rights to market and sell diflomotecan and BN80927 in the USA, Japan, and rest of the world, whereas Beaufour Ipsen will have the sole right to market and sell the products in Europe. Roche and Beaufour Ipsen will jointly pay all future research and development costs for selected indications according to their market potential. Beaufour Ipsen will receive up to US$150 million, consisting of over $20 million in committed payments, and additional payments contingent upon achievement of clinical, regulatory and commercial milestones. Beaufour Ipsen will receive royalties on net sales in the USA, Japan and rest of the world, while Roche will receive royalties on net sales in Europe.

About the Agreement
Roche and Beaufour Ipsen will jointly conduct clinical development of the products. The principal focus of the collaboration will be the clinical development and marketing of diflomotecan and BN80927. Roche and Beaufour Ipsen will also have mutual rights to follow-on compounds and improvements over the next three years. Any such products would also be co-developed and co-commercialised by Roche and Beaufour Ipsen for the treatment of cancer or other therapeutic areas.

Roche in Oncology
Roche is the world leader in oncology. Its franchise includes three drugs with survival benefit: MabThera (Rituximab), Xeloda (capecitabine), and Herceptin (Trastuzumab). It also includes NeoRecormon (epoetin beta), Roferon-A (interferon alfa-2a), and Kytril (granisetron HCL). In addition, Roche has entered several agreements in the current year with Antisoma, Kosan, Gryphon, and GeneMab to develop and commercialise various promising compounds in the oncology field. The Roche Group’s oncology program is supported by four Research sites (two in the USA, Germany and Japan) and five Development sites (two in the USA, UK, Switzerland and Japan).
Roche also offers a broad portfolio of tumor markers for prostate, colorectal, liver, ovarian, breast, stomach, pancreas and lung cancer, as well as a range of molecular oncology tests running on the LightCycler. Within its Integrated Cancer Care Unit the company develops new tests which will have a significant impact on disease management of cancer patients in the future.

About Roche
Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Roche is one of the world’s leading research-orientated healthcare groups. The company's two core businesses in pharmaceuticals and diagnostics provide innovative products and services, that address prevention, diagnosis and treatment of 3 diseases, thus enhancing people’s health and quality of life. The two core businesses achieved a turnover of 19.3 billion Swiss Francs in the first three quarters of 2002 and employed about 57,000 employees worldwide.

Beaufour Ipsen in oncology
Endocrinology/oncology is a significant line of development for Beaufour Ipsen, representing 33.2% of its turnover in 2001. Sales are based on two major products, Decapeptyl, a sustainedrelease (28 days and 3 months) peptide analogue of the hypothalamus hormone (GnRH), mainly indicated in the treatment of prostate cancer, and Somatuline, a sustained-release (28 days) somatostatin peptide analogue and inhibitor of growth hormone used in the treatment of carcinoid tumors.

About Beaufour Ipsen
Present in over 80 countries with a total staff of 3423, the Beaufour Ipsen Group had a turnover of €704 million in 2001, 57% of which was outside France. The Group develops products for four targeted disease area franchises: oncology, endocrinology, neurology and haematology. It currently has a portfolio of 30 products on the market which are either peptides, derived from biotechnology, or products based on natural sources. In 2001, 16.4% of Beaufour Ipsen's turnover was reinvested in Research and Development, which is carried out in four research centres (Paris, Boston, Barcelona and London) by an international network of around 500 scientific staff. The Group's website is www.beaufour-ipsen.com.


Source: Ipsen

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Genome express increases focus on integrated collaborative high throughput services and solutions

Company moves to strengthen position as link in partners' R&D value chain

Grenoble, France, November 15, 2002 - GENOME express, the developer of high value-added solutions for functional genomics and target discovery and validation, announces today that it is increasing its focus on integrated high throughput services and solutions for pharmaceutical, biotech and agri-food industries.

The company has already implemented a number of measures to support this strategy. These include the transfer of its oligonucleotide activity to Qbiogene, a Canadian company that develops and markets molecular biology and genomics products, and the recent launch of its proprietary Discriminative Analysis of Clone Signatures (DACS^TM) technology, a solution focusing on the discovery process of tissue- or cell-expressed genes.

"Remaining competitive and profitable in oligonucleotide activities would have demanded significant investment," said Yves Laurent, CEO of GENOME express. "We decided it would also be a distraction from our higher added value activities where we are engaged in the development and collaborative deployment of our unique integrated platform (genomics, gene profiling and proteomics, bioinformatics) to address real needs."

The recent launch of its Discriminative Analysis of Clone Signatures (DACS) technology is a good illustration of GENOME express' commitment to providing solutions offering real advantages to its customers and partners.

"In the fast-moving field of exploratory genomics, GENOME express intends to stay in the forefront of high value-added services," added Laurent. "Our new GE-DACS solution eliminates bottlenecks in the discovery process of genes expressed in tissue or in a cell and reduces the expense and time needed to generate resources and information for the expression analysis of these genes."

Future investments and collaborations will reinforce its already powerful in-house technology platforms and the company will continue to build a business that brings tangible, significant benefits to its customers. "We expect to make further exciting announcements that will show how GENOME express brings unique competitive advantages to its customers," concluded Laurent.


About GENOME express
GENOME express, Grenoble, France, develops and markets high value-added solutions for functional genomics. The company offers a unique platform that integrates proprietary tools for genomics (discovery and identification of SNPs — Syn-Quence^TM), transcriptomics (gene expression analysis), and proteomics (identification of proteins using genome mapping of mass spectrometry data — Pep Map^TM). Building on its success and experience as a service provider, GENOME express is currently making its platform accessible to private sector researchers and academics in the biopharmaceutical sector. This will be done through partnerships and enable GENOME express customers to outsource their R&D projects either in part or totally. The company is also developing its own research to discover new targets for therapeutic or diagnostic applications in the fields of metabolic diseases such as diabetes or obesity, the central nervous system and bacterial genomics.

For further information: http://www.genomex.com

Source: Genome Express

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Genome express launches proprietary technology to speed up gene discovery

DACS (Discriminative Analysis of Clone Signatures) cuts cost of creating improved genomic resources and simplifies gene expression analysis

Grenoble, France, October 23, 2002 - GENOME express, the developer of high value-added solutions for functional genomics and target discovery and validation, announces today the availability of its new proprietary technology, DACS.

The first application of this innovative technology is GE-DACS^TM (Gene Expression DACS). GE-DACS^TM eliminates bottlenecks in the discovery process of genes expressed in tissue or in a cell. Unlike existing processes, which are both complicated and costly, DACS reduces the expense and time needed to generate resources and information for the expression analysis of these genes. These resources are mainly PCR products that are "ready-to-spot" for an analysis tool such as micro-arrays. Micro-arrays have become an essential tool in the study of complex diseases such as diabetes, cancer and obesity.

DACS thus provides a significant breakthrough compared with other processes such as SAGE¹. DACS not only speeds up the discovery process but also facilitates expression analysis without the need to access data relating to the organism in question (genomic sequence or EST² sequences).

Furthermore, as it is built on the generation of complementary DNA clones, DACS ensures these biological resources are kept intact, and a link to the information produced is established for each clone. If, during the discovery process, researchers suspect the implication of a particular gene in a disease, they can access the initial biological resource and begin an in-depth analysis.

The simplicity of the process means that for the first time, experiments can be reproduced with ease. This is crucial for differential expression analysis, for example gene expression in a normal cell compared to a cancerous cell.

While the first application of DACS is for the study of gene expression, this technology developed by GENOME express can be applied far more widely for use in genomics. Examples include genome sequencing finishing and structural differential genome analysis.

"GE-DACS^TM enriches our technology portfolio with the addition of high-throughput differential expression analysis," said Yves Laurent, CEO of GENOME express. "DACS is proof of GENOME express' ability to develop innovative proprietary tools linking molecular biology to bioinformatics."

¹ — SAGE - Serial Analysis of Gene Expression
² — EST - Expressed Sequence Tag


About DACS
DACS (Discriminative Analysis of Clone Signature) is the new proprietary technology provided by GENOME express. The technology, based on EST sequencing reduces cost while offering the same advantages. DACS marks only one nucleotide of the four composing DNA — A, C, G, T — and includes a capillary multiplex sequencing thus offering high-throughput (1536 samples per run). A patented signal analysis technology applied on sequencing results discriminates identical clones from the different ones, thus allowing the discovery of genes expressed.

For further information: http://www.genomex.com

About GENOME express
GENOME express, Grenoble, France, develops and markets high value-added solutions for functional genomics. The company offers a unique platform that integrates proprietary tools for genomics (discovery and identification of SNPs — Syn-Quence^TM), transcriptomics (gene expression analysis), and proteomics (identification of proteins using genome mapping of mass spectrometry data — Pep Map^TM). Building on its success and experience as a service provider, GENOME express is currently making its platform accessible to private sector researchers and academics in the biopharmaceutical sector. This will be done through partnerships and enable GENOME express customers to outsource their R&D projects either in part or totally. The company is also developing its own research to discover new targets for therapeutic or diagnostic applications in the fields of metabolic diseases such as diabetes or obesity, the central nervous system and bacterial genomics.

For further information: http://www.genomex.com

Source: Genome Express

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Genome express appoints François Pons as new business development manager

Functional genomics company will benefit from François Pons' pharma and biotech experience in creating and managing scientific and industry collaborations

Grenoble, France, September 23, 2002 - GENOME express, the developer of high value-added solutions for functional genomics, announces today the appointment of François Pons as Director of Business Development.

Before taking up this appointment with GENOME express, Pons acquired eight years' high-level experience in the industry. He was Director of business development and scientific communication at the Centre d'Immunologie Pierre Fabre, in Saint Julien en Genevois, on the French side of the border between France and Switzerland. At Pierre Fabre, Pons was closely involved in the negotiation of a number of partnerships and licensing agreements, as well as the setting up and management of research consortia in immunotherapy for cancer and infectious diseases. He was also active in managing investment projects. He originally joined Pierre Fabre as biotechnology licensing manager after a period in strategic marketing with Baxter Healthcare France. His academic qualifications include a master's degree in biochemistry and microbiology (Marseille-Luminy), a diploma in food biotechnology and industry (ENSAIA, Nancy, a French school of agronomy and food industry), and a master's in industrial engineering and management of technological innovation (École Centrale, Paris).

François Pons comes to GENOME express during a period of intensive development. He is responsible for relations with both industry and research establishments and will develop collaborative and partnership alliances with these bodies. His overall mission is to promote GENOME express's integrated genomics and proteomics platform.

"GENOME express is at the stage where it needs to market its know-how in a more targeted and personalized way," said Yves Laurent, CEO of GENOME express. "François Pons brings the skills and experience required for this new phase. He possesses a combination of salesmanship, experience in negotiating and setting up contracts, and understanding of the scientific and pharmaceutical industry environments. This, together with his sheer enthusiasm, will make him one of the key players in the success of GENOME express. We are truly pleased to have him on board."

"I am looking forward to working with the GENOME express team in a vital, fast-growing field," said François Pons. "The company has demonstrated considerable quality throughout its existence and the excellent team has made the right scientific and industry choices, positioning itself in the functional genomics space. These are all good reasons why I want to make my contribution to the company's future success."


About GENOME express
GENOME express, Grenoble, France, develops and markets high value-added solutions for functional genomics. Its expertise covers a variety of disciplines including microbiology (library manufacturing), molecular biology (high throughput sequencing) and bioinformatics (proprietary software). Under development are an integrated genomics and proteomics platform designed to enable GENOME express to engage in proprietary target discovery. Siparex Ventures was lead banker for the fund-raising with co-lead Sud Partners (Sudinnova's fund management arm). Other investors were 3i, the original institutional investor, the Compagnie Financière Edmond de Rothschild, Aquasourça, SPEF Venture and Biotek Partenaires. Since the 12.4&nbps;million euro financing round, the company has received a further million euro grant from France's innovation agency, Anvar. GENOME express is one of the four members of the Genostar consortium, a bioinformatics platform for exploratory genomics that offers a unified way of representing biological knowledge.

Source: Genome Express

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Prostate cancer: Signature of a partnership agreement between Beaufour Ipsen and UroGene

Paris and Evry-Genopole, FRANCE — July 17, 2002 – The pharmaceutical group Beaufour Ipsen and the biopharmaceutical company UroGene have just signed a partnership agreement for the functional and clinical evaluation of a class of molecules in the field of prostate cancer. UroGene will be contributing its molecular genomic know-how, its biological and clinical expertise, and its biological resources and data base, in order to implement this programme.

"This agreement is very pertinent to the Beaufour Ipsen Group strategy since oncology is one of our major lines of therapeutic research. This agreement with UroGene regarding an important medical application is very satisfactory" stated Christophe Thurieau, Director of Research of the Henri Beaufour Institute. "We are convinced that evaluating our molecules for prostate cancer will open the way to extremely promising new therapeutic possibilities. Cancer of the prostate concerns millions of men the world over. Combining our joint expertise and developing the tools required to provide specialist care will give new hope to patients and clinicians involved in the management of this disease."

"We are particularly pleased with the Beaufour Ipsen decision to join forces with us. They are very prominent in the treatment of prostatic cancer and this agreement concurs with our strategy — an integrated oncological and urological approach. It is also a further demonstration that the means and know-how available to us can advance the development of new therapeutics" declared Philippe Berthon, President and Chief Scientific Officer of UroGene. "Further to our own therapeutic development plans — from gene to treatment — in the field of urological tumours, such cooperative work on new molecules can provide timely solutions in the quest for innovative treatment at the clinical stage."


Present in over 80 countries with a total staff of 3423, the Beaufour Ipsen Group had a turnover of €704 million in 2001, 57% of which was outside France. The Company specialises in oncology, haematology, neurology and endocrinology and has a portfolio of 30 products which are either peptides, derived from biotechnology, or based on natural sources. In 2001, 16.4% of Beaufour Ipsen's turnover is reinvested in Research and Development. R&D is focused on four major areas (biologicals, peptides, therapeutic agents of low molecular weight and drug delivery technology) and is carried out from 4 research centres (Paris, Boston, Barcelona and London) by an international network of around 500 scientific staff. The Group is directing its research efforts towards disabling diseases where current treatments remain unsatisfactory. Beaufour Ipsen currently has a pipeline of 15 projects in development. The Group has also set up research partnerships with prestigious universities in the USA and Europe, mainly in France and in the United Kingdom.

UroGene is a biopharmaceutical company with extensive physio-pathological clinical expertise for the accelerated discovery and development of novel onco-urological drugs (prostate, kidney, bladder).

UroGene's three major assets in order to accelerate the process and reach these objectives are:

• UroBank, a tissue and data bank fuelling research projects and enabling early identification of new pertinent therapeutic targets
• A very efficient — and therefore time saving — therapeutic target validation process
• Complete integration of the research and development platform (genomics, functional biology, proteomics, and medicinal chemistry) so that new treatment projects can progress freely from early molecular gene identity studies to molecules in the clinical trial phase involving patients. Several specialised collaboration agreements have been signed to complement the UroGene platform.

At this point, UroGene is working on four of its own therapeutic development programmes (small molecules and peptides) and one programme in partnership.


Source: Ipsen

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New collaboration to develop treatments for inflammatory disease

The University of Cambridge, one of the world's leading centres for biomedical research, and Beaufour Ipsen Group, a European-based global pharmaceutical company, have joined forces to develop and commercialise chemokine inhibitory compounds. Dr David J Grainger, a Royal Society Fellow at the University of Cambridge, has identified a family of peptides and small molecules that exhibit the ability to inhibit migration of inflammatory cells. While the majority of reported chemokine inhibitors are specific for one or a selected group of chemokines, the compounds identified by Dr Grainger exhibit broad chemokine inhibitory activity. These compounds have demonstrated efficacy in a variety of animal models, including those for atherosclerosis, asthma, stroke, endotoxaemia and dermal inflammation.

Under the terms of the agreement negotiated by the University's Technology Transfer Office, Beaufour Ipsen will fund research in Dr Grainger's laboratory, located in the Department of Medicine, Clinical School of Medicine at the University of Cambridge, and make additional payments related to commercialisation of products resulting from Dr Grainger's research.

The University of Cambridge will provide Beaufour Ipsen with exclusive worldwide rights to develop and market the chemokine inhibitory compounds discovered by Dr Grainger. Beaufour Ipsen will manage all phases of product development, including clinical trials and regulatory submissions. Further details of the agreement were not disclosed by either party.

"We are delighted to be working with Dr Grainger to develop his chemokine inhibitory compounds, which will further expand Beaufour Ipsen's strong commitment to the development of peptide-based pharmaceuticals," said Dr Jacques-Pierre Moreau, Beaufour Ipsen Group Vice President Research and Development.

"Dr Grainger is a remarkable young investigator, and his chemokine inhibitory compounds show great promise in the treatment of chronic inflammatory diseases, as evidenced by Dr Grainger's numerous publications in peer-reviewed journals. We are particularly enthusiastic about the prospect of employing these compounds in the area of pulmonary fibrosis, and are involved in animal model studies of pulmonary fibrotic syndromes."

"This agreement illustrates the University's commitment to the formation of commercial partnerships which translate our laboratory discoveries into drugs capable of treating previously incurable conditions," said David Secher, Director of Research Services at the University of Cambridge.


Notes for editors

Chemokines are small proteins that regulate the immune system, particularly chemotaxis (cell migration due to a chemical gradient). To date, four families of chemokines have been identified, consisting of over 50 proteins that bind to one or more of the 13 known chemokine receptors. Recent studies have demonstrated a role for chemokines in the pathogenesis of several inflammation-associated diseases, including asthma and atherosclerosis.

The Department of Medicine, University of Cambridge, comprises some 12 divisions: from anaesthesia and endocrinology to rheumatology. All divisions are involved in research related to human disease, with the broad aim of understanding disease processes at the molecular and physiological level and applying this knowledge to clinical management.

The Technology Transfer Office (TTO) facilitates the commercial development of University intellectual property — and that arising from projects undertaken within the Cambridge-MIT Institute. Specialist technology transfer staff manage all aspects of patents, copyright and contractual arrangements. Income from patents and software exceeds £1 million a year and is growing. The TTO licenses patents and other intellectual property to existing companies, both large and small, as well as to spinouts formed to exploit University and CMI technology. Working together with venture capital funds, the TTO forms around five new companies each year. The University holds equity in over thirty such companies (see www.rsd.cam.ac.uk/tto).

Present in over 80 countries with a total staff of 3440, the Beaufour Ipsen Group had a turnover of more than €700 million in 2001, 58% of which was outside France. The Company specialises in endocrinology, oncology, neurology, haematology, cardiology and gastroenterology and has a portfolio of 30 products which are either peptides, derived from biotechnology, or based on natural sources. Approximately 16.5% of Beaufour Ipsen’s turnover is reinvested in research and development (see www.beaufour-ipsen.com).

Research is focused on four major areas (biologics, peptides, small molecule therapeutics and drug delivery systems) and is carried out from three research centres (Boston, Barcelona, Paris) by an international network of around 500 scientific staff. They are involved in discovering innovative therapeutic responses for the most refractory diseases and to in creating original molecules. Beaufour Ipsen currently has a pipeline of 16 projects in development. The Group has also set up research partnerships with prestigious universities in the USA and Europe, mainly in France and in the United Kingdom.

Except for the historical information presented, certain matters discussed in this press release relating to the development of our products and the results of our collaboration with Beaufour Ipsen are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management at the time the statements are made. They are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this release.


Source: Ipsen

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Beaufour Ipsen markets a new injection formulation of somatuline in the UK, France and Portugal

The Beaufour Ipsen Group has obtained authorisation to market a new sustained-release injection formulation of lanreotide, Somatuline Autogel, in the UK, France and Portugal.

Somatuline Autogel is used to control growth hormone (GH) levels in people with acromegaly and also to provide symptomatic relief for patients with neuroendocrine tumours. Clinical studies have shown that Somatuline Autogel provides sustained drug release for at least 28 days.

 

Source: Ipsen

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Corixa and Beaufour Ipsen collaborate to develop and commercialize corixa’s anergix.mg™ technology for the treatment of myasthenia gravis

Seattle and Paris, Jan. 15, 2002 — Corixa Corporation (Nasdaq: CRXA), a developer of immunotherapeutics, and Beaufour Ipsen Group a European based global pharmaceutical company , today announced a license, development and commercialization agreement for Corixa’s AnergiX.MGTM technology for the treatment of myasthenia gravis, a chronic autoimmune neuromuscular disease that causes varying degrees of weakness of the skeletal muscles of the body.

Under the terms of the agreement, Corixa will provide Beaufour Ipsen with exclusive worldwide rights to develop and market its AnergiX.MG technology for the treatment of myasthenia gravis. Beaufour Ipsen will manage product development, including clinical trials and regulatory submissions. Beaufour Ipsen will pay Corixa an up-front license fee, guaranteed research support, success-based milestone payments and royalties in the event of Beaufour Ipsen product sales. The collaboration will be overseen by a joint steering committee made up of representatives from both companies. Further details of the agreement were not disclosed by either party.

"Our agreement with Beaufour Ipsen demonstrates the continued value of the AnergiX technology originally obtained in the Anergen acquisition and further extends the therapy potential of Corixa technology," stated Steven Gillis, Ph.D., chairman and chief executive officer of Corixa. "We hope that our collaboration with Beaufour Ipsen will provide a much needed treatment for those suffering from this debilitating neuromuscular disorder."

"We are excited to be working with Corixa to develop the AnergiX.MG technology, which will further expand our dedication to the treatment of neuromuscular diseases" said Jacques-Pierre Moreau, Beaufour Ipsen group Vice President Research & Development. "We share in Corixa’s commitment to discovering and developing innovative technologies and look forward to the possibility of developing a novel treatment for myasthenia gravis patients."


About Myasthenia Gravis

Myasthenia gravis is a chronic autoimmune neuromuscular disease characterized by varying degrees of weakness of the skeletal (voluntary) muscles of the body. Myasthenia gravis is caused by a defect in the transmission of nerve impulses to muscles. It occurs when normal communication between the nerve and muscle is interrupted at the neuromuscular junction — the place where nerve cells connect with the muscles they control. Normally when impulses travel down the nerve, the nerve endings release a neurotransmitter substance called acetylcholine. Acetylcholine travels through the neuromuscular junction and binds to acetylcholine receptors that are activated and generate a muscle contraction. In myasthenia gravis, antibodies block, alter, or destroy the receptors for acetylcholine at the neuromuscular junction that prevents the muscle contraction from occurring.

About Corixa

Corixa is a developer of immunotherapeutics with a commitment to treating and preventing autoimmune diseases, cancer and infectious diseases by understanding and directing the immune system. Corixa is focused on immunotherapeutic products and has a broad technology platform enabling both fully integrated vaccine design and the use of its separate, proprietary product components on a stand-alone basis. Corixa currently has 16 programs in clinical development and 22 programs in preclinical development, including its most advanced product candidate, Bexxar®, a monoclonal antibody conjugated to a radioisotope.

The company partners with numerous developers and marketers of pharmaceuticals, targeting products that are Powered by Corixa^TM technology with the goal of making its potential products available to patients around the world. Corixa was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Seattle, Washington, with additional operations in Hamilton, Montana and South San Francisco, California. For more information, please visit Corixa's Website at www.corixa.com or call the company's investor relations information line at 1.877.4CORIXA or 877/426-7492.

About Beaufour Ipsen

Beaufour Ipsen is an independent European ethical pharmaceutical company which, aside from a traditional line of natural products (Gingko Biloba extracts & clays), has successfully developed and commercialized a range of specialist and biotech derived pharmaceuticals. Beaufour Ipsen is a leader in the development and production of controlled release formulation for therapeutic peptides used in the treatment of hormone responsive illnesses. Beaufour Ipsen market Dysport a brand of Botulinum toxin prescribed for the treatment of motor disorders & muscle spasticity. The company has sales in 80 countries.

Forward Looking Statements

Except for the historical information presented, certain matters discussed in this press release relating to the development of our products and the results of our collaboration with Beaufour Ipsen are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management at the time the statements are made. They are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such statements. Factors that could affect Corixa's actual results include, but are not limited to the failure of the AnergiX.MG program to result in a safe or efficacious product for treating myasthenia gravis, the failure of Beaufour Ipsen to devote sufficient resources to the development and commercialization of AnegiX.MG and the other "Factors Affecting Our Operating Results, Our Business and Our Stock Price," described in Corixa’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2001, copies of which are available from Corixa’s investor relations department. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this release.


Source: Ipsen

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