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Merix and Kirin to Develop Personalized Dendritic Cell Vaccines
for Cancer, HIV and Other Disease
Durham, NC and Tokyo, Japan – June 22, 2004 – Merix Bioscience,
a company pioneering therapeutic immunotherapy vaccines, and Kirin Brewery’s
Pharmaceutical Division, which is developing therapeutic products for
renal disease, cancer and immunological disorders, today announced the
signing of a collaboration agreement for developing therapies using dendritic
cells.
Under the terms of the agreement, the companies will collaborate to develop and
commercialize dendritic cell vaccines in all applicable areas, including cancer,
infectious diseases, autoimmune disorders and transplantation. Initially, the
companies will focus on cancer and HIV. Merix and Kirin will jointly conduct
research and development, and will share profits worldwide. Merix will commercialize
in the United States and Canada; Kirin in Asia; and opportunities in Europe and
the rest of the world will be decided jointly. As part of the agreement, Kirin
made an equity investment in Merix and will appoint a member to Merix’s
board of directors. Each party will contribute an estimated $45-65M (USD) during
the first three years of the collaboration.
“We highly regard our partnership with Kirin and believe our collective
expertise
in the field of cell therapy will provide patients with superior immunotherapy
treatments,” said Clint (Skip) Dederick, chairman of the Board, CEO and
president of Merix. “Our RNA-loaded technology creates a unique opportunity
to personalize treatment for an individual patient and invoke the broadest possible
immune response to fight disease.”
Merix has a company-sponsored Phase I/II clinical trial underway at five sites
in the United States and Canada to investigate a personalized vaccine for renal
(kidney) cancer. Under the collaborative agreement, the companies will utilize
Merix’s platform technology for RNA-loaded dendritic cell technology. This “total
tumor RNA” approach is completely unique in that it uses RNA from all of
the patient’s tumor antigens.
“We believe the collaboration with Merix provides an excellent opportunity
for
developing new immunotherapy vaccines, which complements our business efforts
to actively pursue the most promising and innovating medical technologies,” said
Katsuhiko Asano, Ph.D., managing executive officer of Kirin, and president of
its Pharmaceutical Division. “We are pleased to begin our partnership with
Merix and have resolved all of the outstanding issues that previously existed,” he
added.
NOTE
This news release may contain forward-looking statements made pursuant to the "safe
harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
Investors are cautioned that such forward-looking statements in this press release
regarding potential applications of Merix's technology constitute forward-looking
statements involving risks and uncertainties, including, without limitation,
risks inherent in the development and commercialization of potential products,
reliance on collaborators, need for additional capital, need for regulatory approvals
or clearances, and the maintenance of our intellectual property rights. Actual
results may differ materially from the results anticipated in these forward-looking
statements.
About Merix
Merix Bioscience, Inc. – a privately held company headquartered in Durham,
North Carolina, and with additional operations in Erlangen, Germany – is
dedicated to becoming a market leader in the field of immunotherapy. Utilizing
proprietary technology and proven therapeutic methods and expertise in dendritic
cell biology, Merix is developing the next generation of therapies in the areas
of oncology, infectious diseases, autoimmune disorders and transplantation. Merix’s
initial total tumor RNA-loaded dendritic cell vaccine is currently in a corporate
Phase I/II clinical trial for patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma.
For more information, please visit www.Merixbio.com.
About Kirin
Kirin Brewery Co., Ltd, located in Tokyo, Japan, is the world’s 8th largest
brewery. Its Pharmaceutical Division focuses on kidney diseases, cancers (including
hematopoietic diseases), and immune-system/allergy-related diseases and has recently
been focused on the areas of cell therapy and fully human antibodies. www.kirin.co.jp
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