BT PHARMA enforces its alliance with the Institut Pasteur on the development of therapeutic cancer vaccines

Toulouse, 11 January 2008 — The Institut Pasteur has agreed to add a new patent under the exclusive license granted to BT PHARMA with regards to the Adenylate Cyclase vector technology. This patent has been filed in all major markets of the OECD as well as in China and India.

The patent claims a novel combination cancer treatment, which associates a chemotherapeutic agent with an immunotherapeutic agent, resulting in a dramatically improved specific immune response against the malignant tissues. In fact, the treatment induces simultaneously an adaptive cellular immune response (tumour cell specific), an amplified innate immune response and decreases the immune tolerance that tumours typically acquire. This patented combination has, for the first time in appropriate animal models, allowed to totally eliminate very large vascularized solid tumours.

The new patent reinforces BT PHARMA’s intellectual property portfolio, which consists of proprietary patents and patents exclusively in licensed from the Institut Pasteur. The results protected under this most recent patent filed by the Institut Pasteur were obtained by the team of Professor Claude Leclerc, Director of the Department for Immune Regulation and Vaccinology, INSERM U883, Institut Pasteur. Professor Claude Leclerc is also member of the Science Board of the "Cancéropôle Ile-de-France" and is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of BT PHARMA.

« This is the second patent of the Institut Pasteur this year that BT PHARMA has integrated in its exclusive license arrangement with regards to the Adenylate Cyclase vector technology » said Benedikt Timmerman, Chief Executive Officer of BT PHARMA; « Already in May 2007, we have acquired the commercial rights to a patent filed by the Institut Pasteur, which claims the use of the Adenylate Cyclase carrying tumour-derived antigenic peptides. Together with the patent covering combination therapy of CyaA with chemotherapy, these two patents substantially reinforce BT PHARMA’s position in the domain of cancer immunotherapy ».


With regards to BT PHARMA S.A.

BT PHARMA is a bio-pharmaceutical company, spun out from Institut Pasteur incubator in 2002 (Pasteur-Biotop) and currently headquartered in Toulouse, France. The company strives to improve the well-being of people through the development of therapeutic vaccines for infection, dysplasia and cancer provoked by the Human Papillomavirus (HPV). BT PHARMA’s key technology is a recombinant protein-based antigen delivery system: the Adenylate Cyclase vector (CyaA). CyaA allows "re-educating" the immune system such that protective cellular immunity is activated against certain serious diseases, including cancer. The CyaA technology stands out because of its universal applicability, its target specificity, its potency and relative simplicity. BT PHARMA focuses on the HPV domain but invites industrial partnerships for development of vaccines against other cancers as well as preventive vaccines against infectious diseases.

ProCervix^®, the most advanced product candidate of the company, will enter phase I/II clinical trials in 2008. This bivalent therapeutic vaccine targets high grade neoplasia and cervical cancer provoked by Human Papillomavirus HPV16 and HPV18, which affect more than 70% of women with these indications. If effective, ProCervix^® could replace Loop Electrosurgical Excision Procedure (LEEP) or cervical conisation in millions of women infected by HPV16 or HPV18 and at risk of developing cervical cancer. Please note that preventive HPV vaccines are not proscribed for people that are already infected by the virus. On average 12% of the population is carrier of HPV, of which a fraction will develop high-grade intra-epithelial lesions that can progress to invasive cancer. It is for these people that BT PHARMA intends to provide a less invasive solution.


Source: BT Pharma

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Genome Express and Institut Pasteur sign partnership agreement

Institut Pasteur accord underscores added value of GENOME express's functional genomics platform for research teams in pharmaceutical, biotechnology, agrifood sectors

Grenoble, France, July 27 2004 — GENOME express, developer and provider of high added value solutions in functional genomics, announces today that it has signed a partnership agreement with the Institut Pasteur. Under the terms of the agreement, the Institut Pasteur will be able to access the range of tools available on GENOME express's functional genomics platform, in particular in the field of bacterial genomics, under favorable conditions. The agreement applies to Pasteur's internal research programs. Financial terms are undisclosed.

For GENOME express, the deal means a highly credible endorsement of its technology platform, particularly in the fields of microbiology, as well as making the platform a widely used tool by scientists throughout the Institut Pasteur. The agreement also allows for future co-development of products and services that bring together Pasteur's biology expertise and GENOME express's technology platform for pharmaceutical, biotechnology and agrifood industry customers.

The Institut Pasteur will benefit from the tools and technical know-how of GENOME express and the special access terms granted by GENOME express. Building on its knowledge and experience of sequencing and bioinformatics, GENOME express has developed and is now marketing proprietary methods in the field of genomics and comparative transcriptomics. These methods allow academic or industry customers to accelerate their research processes in areas such as the discovery of new molecular diagnostic markers, strain identification, identification of new targets, and adopting appropriate vaccine strategies.

"Institut Pasteur enjoys an international reputation for its work in microbiology and infectious diseases, and this agreement is an impressive endorsement of our technology platform," said Warren Barton, chairman and CEO of GENOME express. "It illustrates our commitment to providing real, significant and competitive benefits to our customers and helping them to optimize the value chain in the discovery process."

"We have already achieved useful research results by using GENOME express tools, in particular in the field of comparative genomics related to molecular epidemiology," said Stewart Cole, director of the Institut Pasteur Genopole. "This agreement opens up for us a range of new possibilities using GENOME express's expertise."


About GENOME express
GENOME express, Grenoble, France, is a leading provider of DNA sequencing services and also develops and markets a range of high value-added solutions for functional genomics. The company offers a unique platform that integrates innovative and proprietary tools for genomics, comparative transcriptomics (gene expression analysis). These tools are linked to an advanced bioinformatics platform comprising GenoStar for bacterial genomic exploration, Syn-Quence^TM for the discovery and identification of SNPs, and PepMap for the identification of proteins via the genomic mapping of mass spectrometry data. Building on its success and experience as a service provider, GENOME express is currently making its platform accessible to private sector researchers and academics. This will be done through partnerships with customers in the diagnostics, pharmaceutical and veterinary sectors enabling them to outsource their R&D projects either in part or totally.

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

Source: Genome Express

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