Alseres and BioAxone Amend License Agreement for Cethrin(R) and Rho Inhibitor Technology
30 April 2009 - 3:00PM
PR Newswire (US)
HOPKINTON, Mass., April 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Alseres
Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALSE; the Company) announced today
that on April 24, 2009 it entered into an Amendment to License
Agreement (Amendment) with BioAxone Therapeutic, Inc. (BioAxone),
pursuant to which the license agreement between the Company and
BioAxone originally executed in December 2006 and amended in March
2007 (the Cethrin License) was further amended. The Amendment
replaces all of the pre-commercial financial and
performance-related milestones contained in the Cethrin License
with a formula-based approach to sharing any and all income
generated under a sub-license. The Amendment provides that the
Company will use reasonable commercial efforts to enter into a
sub-license Agreement for the compounds and technology covered by
the Cethrin License. In the event that the Company fails to
sub-license its rights under the Cethrin License within a specified
time period, the Company retains a right to receive a smaller
portion of any license revenue that BioAxone generates after the
Cethrin License, as amended, terminates. The Amendment also
provides for the mutual release of claims that each party had
previously alleged against the other under the Cethrin License.
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"We are pleased with the amended agreement with BioAxone. With our
recent progress with Altropane(R) and our Phase III molecular
imaging program, a significant portion of our resources must be
devoted to completing pivotal clinical trials, getting FDA approval
and establishing manufacturing and commercialization partnerships
for Altropane," stated Peter Savas, Chairman and CEO of Alseres.
Mr. Savas continued: "We are deeply committed to the continued
clinical development of Cethrin to treat patients with acute spinal
cord injury. In the current environment, we believe that finding a
strong development and commercialization partner for Cethrin is the
best path forward to ensure that it is developed in a focused,
efficient manner while Alseres concentrates on advancing Altropane
toward market approval in the U.S. The amended agreement enables
Alseres and BioAxone to work together on this partnering effort
without the distraction of an arbitration procedure." Cethrin
License Background In December 2006, the Company entered into the
Cethrin License (as amended in March 2007), pursuant to which the
Company was granted an exclusive, worldwide license to develop and
commercialize specified compounds including, but not limited to,
Cethrin, as further defined in the Cethrin License. The Cethrin
License called for the Company to conduct development and
commercialization activities of Cethrin and to pay certain
pre-commercialization milestones and on-going royalties on sales of
Cethrin when and if approved for marketing. The Amendment changes
the pre-commercialization milestones and on-going royalty terms to
an income-sharing approach. About Alseres Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Alseres Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (ALSE) is engaged in the development
of diagnostic and therapeutic products primarily for disorders in
the central nervous system (CNS). The Company has a robust
molecular imaging development program targeting diagnosis of
Parkinsonian Syndromes and potentially dementia. The Company's lead
molecular imaging product candidate is Altropane which is in Phase
III clinical trials for the diagnosis of Parkinsonian Syndromes
including Parkinson's disease. The Company maintains a world-class
intellectual property position in the field of regenerative
therapeutics. Cethrin, a recombinant-protein-based drug designed to
promote nerve repair after acute spinal cord injury, demonstrated
positive interim results in a Phase I/IIa clinical trial. The
Company's research and pre-clinical programs include, Inosine for
the treatment of spinal cord injury and stroke, Oncomodulin for the
treatment of ocular injury and disease and research programs
directed at a number of regenerative therapies including bone
repair. Forward-Looking Statements The foregoing release contains
certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking
statements include statements regarding Alseres' future
expectations, beliefs, intentions, goals, strategies, plans or
prospects regarding the future, including the Company's ability to
obtain financing, the development and commercialization of
Altropane and Cethrin, the prospects of the Company's CNS and
regenerative therapeutics programs, the Company's strategies to
develop and commercialize axon regeneration technologies and the
breadth of the Company's technologies and intellectual property
portfolio. Forward-looking statements can be identified by
terminology such as "anticipate," "believe," "could," "could
increase the likelihood," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "is
planned," "may," "should," "will," "will enable," "would be
expected," "look forward," "may provide," "would" or similar terms,
variations of such terms or the negative of those terms. Such
forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks,
uncertainties and other factors including those risks,
uncertainties and factors referred to in the Company's Annual
Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2008 filed with
the Securities and Exchange Commission under the section "Risk
Factors," as well as other documents that may be filed by Alseres
from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. As a
result of such risks, uncertainties and factors, the Company's
actual results may differ materially from any future results,
performance or achievements discussed in or implied by the
forward-looking statements contained herein. Alseres is providing
the information in this press release as of this date and assumes
no obligations to update the information in this press release.
Alseres, Cethrin and Altropane are registered trademarks of Alseres
Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Contact: Ken Rice - 508-497-2360 ext. 226
Alseres Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080813/NEW056LOGO
http://photoarchive.ap.org/ DATASOURCE: Alseres Pharmaceuticals,
Inc. CONTACT: Ken Rice of Alseres Pharmaceuticals, Inc.,
+1-508-497-2360, ext. 226, Web Site: http://www.alseres.com/
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