EXHIBIT 99.1
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ARIAD Grants Commercial License to Its Patented ARGENT(TM)
Cell-Signaling Regulation Technology for Development
of New Cancer Therapies
Partnership Leverages Broad Academic Technology Access Program
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 11, 2006--ARIAD
Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ARIA) today announced a non-exclusive,
royalty-bearing license agreement to its ARGENT(TM) cell-signaling
regulation technology with Bellicum Pharmaceuticals, Inc. to develop
and commercialize new cancer therapies. ARIAD will have an equity
stake in Bellicum and will receive additional payments based on
certain development, regulatory and commercial milestones achieved by
the company. Products in this partnership will use ARIAD's
small-molecule dimerizer drug, AP1903, which already has successfully
completed a Phase 1 clinical trial.
"This partnership was established to create additional value for
ARIAD based on our ARGENT technology without the need to invest in the
development costs associated with these efforts. By providing our
proprietary technology to hundreds of leading academic scientists, we
have been able to facilitate the discovery of new product concepts,
targets and tools," said Harvey J. Berger, M.D., chairman and chief
executive officer of ARIAD. "Our primary internal focus remains the
development and commercialization of our lead oncology product
candidate, AP23573, initially in advanced sarcomas, followed by a
series of further indications in oncology."
The license and equity ownership agreement with Bellicum
originated as academic collaborations with scientists from Baylor
College of Medicine led by Professors David M. Spencer and Kevin M.
Slawin who have worked extensively with ARIAD's cell-signaling
regulation technologies obtained through the Company's broad-access
program. To date, over 1,175 material transfer agreements with 461
different institutions in 33 countries have been put in place,
including with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the National
Institutes of Health. The ARGENT technology permits control of
intracellular processes with small molecules, which is useful in the
development of therapeutic vaccines and gene and cell therapy
products, and which provides versatile tools for applications in cell
biology, functional genomics and drug-discovery research.
Timothy P. Clackson, Ph.D., senior vice president and chief
scientific officer of ARIAD, added, "Our mTOR inhibitor programs,
including AP23573, evolved directly from scientific discoveries made
in our ARGENT technology program. Our early commitment to
understanding mTOR as a target and regulated cell signaling continues
to pay valuable scientific dividends, both in our own oncology drug
development programs and in the many research areas being pursued by
scientists in commercial and academic institutions throughout the
world."
Bellicum Product Candidates
The Bellicum product candidates are based on ARIAD's technology to
control the activity of genetically engineered cells with
small-molecule dimerizers. The initial Bellicum product candidate is a
novel immune-cell cancer vaccine to treat aggressive forms of prostate
cancer. Published preclinical studies have shown that incorporating an
ARGENT-inducible protein under dimerizer control into dendritic cell
vaccines greatly improves the potency and longevity of the anti-tumor
response observed (see, Hanks, B.A., et al, Nature Medicine 2005,
11:130-137) - findings that could be particularly important to the
development of next-generation cancer vaccines.
ARGENT(TM) Cell-signaling Regulation Technology
The ARGENT technology is based on the principle of chemically
induced dimerization, or linking, of proteins by small-molecule
compounds, known as "dimerizers." These unique compounds have two
binding surfaces that can interact simultaneously with two protein
targets, thereby bringing them close together and triggering desired
biological effects. This approach was first described by two of
ARIAD's long-time collaborators and scientific founders, Professors
Stuart L. Schreiber and Gerald R. Crabtree (see, Spencer, D. M., et
al, Science 1993, 262, 1019-1024). ARIAD exclusively licensed this
technology in 1994 and substantially developed and extended the
technology further, building components for robust uses in animal
studies and exploring numerous potential research and therapeutic
applications.
To facilitate broad and unencumbered access to the technology by
academic scientists, Regulation Kits incorporating the ARGENT system
are distributed by ARIAD at no cost to these investigators through a
standard material transfer agreement available on its website. These
kits have been used for a wide diversity of applications, from mapping
cell signaling pathways to target validation in inducible animal
models, as well as exploration of therapeutic interventions. Providing
extensive access has seeded many research projects that may provide
ARIAD with new product opportunities, such as the Bellicum program.
More than 300 scientific papers have been published using the
ARGENT technology. Based on these publications, over 100 different
proteins have been brought under dimerizer control. These papers
highlight the broad research applications of the technology in the
study of cancer, cell death and survival, developmental biology,
adhesion, screening and assays, development of new experimental tools,
and potential therapeutic uses.
About ARIAD
ARIAD is engaged in the discovery and development of breakthrough
medicines to treat cancer by regulating cell signaling with small
molecules. The Company is developing a comprehensive approach to
patients with cancer that addresses the greatest medical need -
aggressive and advanced-stage cancers for which current treatments are
inadequate. Medinol Ltd. also is developing stents and other medical
devices that deliver ARIAD's lead cancer product candidate to prevent
reblockage at sites of vascular injury following stent-assisted
angioplasty. ARIAD has an exclusive license to pioneering technology
and patents related to certain NF-kappaB treatment methods, and the
discovery and development of drugs to regulate NF-kappaB
cell-signaling activity, which may be useful in treating certain
diseases. Additional information about ARIAD can be found on the web
at http://www.ariad.com.
More Information on the Web
ARGENT Technology: http://www.ariad.com/regulationkits
Stuart Schreiber, Ph.D.:
http://www.broad.harvard.edu/chembio/lab_schreiber/index.html
Gerald R. Crabtree, Ph.D.: http://crablab.stanford.edu
David M. Spencer, Ph.D.: http://www.bcm.edu/immuno/?pmid=2030
Kevin M. Slawin, M.D.: http://www.bcm.edu/urology/?pmid=4896
Bellicum Pharmaceuticals, Inc.: http://www.bellicum.com
Some of the matters discussed herein are "forward-looking
statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995. Such statements are identified by the use of words
such as "may", "anticipate," "estimate," "expect," "project,"
"intend," "plan," "believe," and other words and terms of similar
meaning in connection with any discussion of future operating or
financial performance. Such statements are based on management's
expectations and are subject to certain factors, risks and
uncertainties that may cause actual results, outcome of events, timing
and performance to differ materially from those expressed or implied
by such forward-looking statements. These risks include, but are not
limited to, risks and uncertainties regarding our ability to
accurately estimate the timing and actual R&D expenses and other costs
associated with the preclinical and clinical development and
manufacture of our product candidates, the adequacy of our capital
resources and the availability of additional funding, risks and
uncertainties regarding our ability to manufacture or have
manufactured our product candidates on a commercial scale, risks and
uncertainties regarding our ability to successfully recruit centers,
enroll patients and conduct clinical studies of product candidates,
risks and uncertainties that clinical trial results at any phase of
development may be adverse or may not be predictive of future results
or lead to regulatory approval of any of our or any partner's product
candidates, risks and uncertainties of third-party intellectual
property claims relating to our and any partner's product candidates,
and risks and uncertainties relating to regulatory oversight, the
timing, scope, cost and outcome of legal and patent office
proceedings, litigation, prosecution and re-examination proceedings
concerning our NF-kappaB patent portfolio, future capital needs, key
employees, dependence on collaborators and manufacturers, markets,
economic conditions, products, services, prices, reimbursement rates,
competition and other factors detailed in the Company's public filings
with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including ARIAD's Annual
Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2005. The
information contained in this document is believed to be current as of
the date of original issue. The Company does not intend to update any
of the forward-looking statements after the date of this document to
conform these statements to actual results or to changes in the
Company's expectations, except as required by law.
CONTACT: ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Edward Fitzgerald (Investors), 617-621-2345
or
Pure Communications
Sheryl Seapy (Media), 949-608-0841