Contact: Jay Steffenhagen, Beckman Coulter (714) 773-7620
Cynthia Sullivan, Immunomedics (973) 605-8200, ext. 109
BECKMAN COULTER AND IMMUNOMEDICS ANNOUNCE FUNDING
OF THEIR JOINT VENTURE FOR CANCER THERAPEUTICS
FULLERTON, CA, and MORRIS PLAINS, NJ, March 9, 1999 - Beckman Coulter, Inc.
(NYSE:BEC) and Immunomedics, Inc. (NASDAQ:IMMU) announced today that their joint
venture in cancer therapeutics, IBC Pharmaceuticals, LLC, has received start-up
funding from a private investor group. The group received a 7 percent interest
in IBC based on a $35 million valuation.
Operations will begin at Immunomedics facilities in New Jersey and Beckman
Coulter facilities in Marseille France. Immunomedics' Chairman, Dr. David M.
Goldenberg, will also serve as Chairman of IBC, and Dr. Jacques Barbet, one of
the inventors of IBC's technology, will direct the European operations. Other
IBC officers are Michael Brochu, CEO, formerly Vice President of business
development at Coulter Corp., and Richard Williams, CFO, who is Chairman of
Medco Research and a Director of Immunomedics.
IBC was formed in 1998 when Beckman Coulter and a majority owned subsidiary of
Immunomedics each contributed basic patents, with the intention of finding
outside investors to fund further development. At that time their ownership
positions were 47 percent and 53 percent (by a majority-owned subsidiary of
Immunomedics), respectively.
The joint venture will attempt to develop new therapies that selectively
irradiate cancer cells in a two-step process. Treatment would begin with
injection of a bispecific antibody that targets the cancer. These proprietary
antibodies then bind with a radio-labeled carrier that is injected later as a
second step.
Immunomedics, through its subsidiary, has contributed its proprietary humanized
antibody against the cancer marker, carcinoembryonic antigen, which is used in
its CEA-Cide* therapeutic. Beckman Coulter has provided other antibodies and a
license to patents covering its bispecific targeting technology called the
"Affinity Enhancement System" or AES. This method can also be used to
selectively deliver non-isotopic agents.
Beckman Coulter's Chairman, President and CEO, John P. Wareham, commented, "This
venture brings together key technologies and shares development risk with
outside investors. We are pleased to have found a way to further this promising
therapy."
Dr. Goldenberg stated, "Animal and clinical studies have shown that the IBC
technology can deliver diagnostic and therapeutic isotopes to cancer cells,
especially in patients with small-cell lung or medullary thyroid cancers. We
plan to extend our capabilities to colorectal, breast, non-small cell lung and
prostate cancers. These efforts are being pursued in tandem with Immunomedics
trials of CEA-Cide and LymphoCide* that use directly labeled anticancer
antibodies."
Dr. Barbet added, "To-date, over 300 cancer patients have been studied using the
IBC technology, and we have published animal and clinical studies demonstrating
improved targeting and encouraging therapeutic responses. The clinical studies
have been directed by Professor J.F. Chatal of Nantes, France, who is a
prominent European investigator in nuclear medicine."
Beckman Coulter, Inc., is a leading provider of instrument systems and
complementary products that simplify and automate processes in life science and
clinical laboratories. The company's products are used throughout the world in
all phases of the battle against disease, from pioneering medical research and
drug discovery to diagnostic testing that aids in patient treatment. Annual
sales for the company totaled $1.7 billion in 1998, with about half of this
amount generated outside the United States.
Immunomedics is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development,
manufacture and commercialization of diagnostic imaging and therapeutic products
for the detection and treatment of cancer and infectious diseases. Integral to
these products are highly specific monoclonal antibodies and antibody fragments
designed to deliver radioisotopes and chemotherapeutic agents to tumors and
sites of infection. The Company's first product, CEA-Scan* for the detection of
colorectal cancer, is being marketed in the United States and Europe (approved
in Canada). The Company's second diagnostic imaging product, LeukoScan*, is
being marketed in Europe for the diagnosis of osteomyelitis (bone infection).
This product is presently under regulatory review by the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration. Immunomedics also has several other diagnostic imaging products
and two therapeutic products in clinical trials.
This release contains certain forward-looking statements regarding the
development and therapeutic value of the IBC technology. While Beckman Coulter
and Immunomedics believe that this is a promising area for research, this
product is in the early phases of development, and they cannot offer any
assurances that marketable products will be developed or, if they are developed,
that necessary government approvals can be obtained. The FDA has not approved
this technology for therapeutic use. Only limited clinical studies have been
performed and additional studies may show that the technology has limited
clinical utility, is not sufficiently effective, or has side effects that render
it unacceptable for therapeutic use.
*CEA-Cide, LymphoCide, CEA-Scan and LeukoScan are trademarks of Immunomedics,
Inc.