Dendreon Corporation and Genentech to Collaborate on Trp-p8 Gene Platform
Potential Value of Deal Over $110 Million
Seattle, WA (August 13, 2002) – Dendreon Corporation today announced a collaboration with Genentech, Inc. for the research, development and commercialization of products derived from Dendreon’s Trp-p8 gene platform. The agreement concerns the development of monoclonal antibodies, small molecules and other products derived from Dendreon’s Trp-p8 gene platform. In addition to the purchase of equity, the agreement provides for upfront and milestone payments totaling over $110 million for the resulting development of Trp-p8 products. The companies will be jointly responsible for conducting pre-clinical and clinical work, with Genentech ultimately funding the majority of these activities. Genentech will also be responsible for all manufacturing of resulting products.
“Trp-p8 was a highly sought after target, and the terms of our collaboration with Genentech reflect both companies’ recognition of the potential value of resulting Trp-p8 products,” said Mitchell H. Gold, M.D., chief business officer at Dendreon. “Genentech’s equity investment, upfront and milestone payments values the deal to Dendreon at potentially more than $110 million. Dendreon believes that this is a historic number for a single pre-clinical target. Furthermore, we have the opportunity to co-promote and share profits with Genentech on any resulting products in the United States.“
Genentech will be responsible for commercialization of Trp-p8 products in the rest of the world except Asia and Oceania where Dendreon retains all development and commercialization rights.
“Trp-p8 is an ideal cancer target due to the fact that it is a very widely expressed molecule and appears to have a functional role within the cell,” said Reiner Laus, M.D., vice president of research at Dendreon. “We believe this target should produce a prolific source of new drug candidates for the two companies going forward.”
“Our collaboration with Genentech, the market leader in monoclonal antibodies for cancer, provides Dendreon with a clear strategic fit for our Trp-p8 target and validates the potential of our discovery,” said Christopher S. Henney, Ph.D, D.Sc., chief executive officer of Dendreon. “We believe this collaboration will provide both short and long-term value for our company and shareholders. This, along with the encouraging results recently announced for our first Phase III trial of ProvengeTM provides us with multiple product opportunities well into the future.”
The Trp-p8 gene, discovered and patented by Dendreon, is over-expressed in a range of cancers including prostate, breast, lung and colon. The functional and tissue expression traits of Trp-p8 make it an attractive target for cancer therapy. Trp-p8 is a trans-membrane, voltage-gated calcium channel and is a member of the transient receptor potential (TRP) ion channel family.
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