Avalon Pharmaceuticals Announces the Initiation of the Primary Screening Phase in Drug Discovery Collaboration
26 February 2007 - 10:30PM
PR Newswire (US)
GERMANTOWN, Md., Feb. 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Avalon
Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ and NYSE ArcaEx: AVRX), today
announced the initiation of the primary screening phase under its
drug discovery collaboration with Novartis. The collaboration aims
to discover small molecule therapeutic compounds targeted against a
pathway selected by Novartis. The terms of the collaboration
provide for upfront, research support and milestone payments.
Avalon is using its AvalonRx(R) drug discovery platform to screen,
identify and characterize compounds from the Novartis proprietary
compound library. Following Avalon's successful identification of a
screen signature by monitoring large-scale gene expression changes
resulting from disrupting the selected pathway, the parties have
agreed to initiate the primary screen against a large subset of
Novartis' compound library. Under the terms of the agreement, the
initiation of the screening phase triggers a $500,000 payment to
Avalon for research support. "We are very pleased with the progress
of this collaboration," stated Kenneth C. Carter, Ph.D., President
and CEO of Avalon. "Our AvalonRx(R) drug discovery platform brings
real value to programs like this through greater speed in
identifying compounds with more selectivity against virtually any
pathway or target, including those which historically have been
considered undruggable." About Avalon Pharmaceuticals Avalon
Pharmaceuticals is a biopharmaceutical company using its
proprietary technology, AvalonRx(R), to discover and develop cancer
therapeutics. Avalon has a lead product in Phase I clinical
development (AVN944 -IMPDH inhibitor), preclinical programs to
discovery inhibitors for the beta-catenin and aurora pathways and
value generating partnerships with MedImmune, Medarex, and
Novartis. Avalon Pharmaceuticals was established in 1999 and is
headquartered in Germantown, Md. About AvalonRx(R) AvalonRx(R) is a
comprehensive, innovative and proprietary suite of technologies
based upon large-scale gene expression analysis. This platform
facilitates drug discovery by expanding the range of therapeutic
targets for drug intervention, including targets and target
pathways frequently considered intractable using conventional HTS
approaches, allows more informed decisions about which compounds to
advance towards clinical trials, and facilitates drug development
through identification of biomarkers of efficacy that can stratify
patients or provide early indicators of response. Forward-Looking
Statements This press release contains "forward-looking statements"
within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Reform
Act of 1995. These statements are based on management's current
expectations and are subject to risks, uncertainty and changes in
circumstances, which may cause actual results, performance or
achievements to differ materially from anticipated results,
performance or achievements. All statements contained herein that
are not clearly historical in nature are forward looking. Economic,
business, competitive and/or regulatory factors affecting Avalon's
business are examples of factors, among others, that could cause
actual results to differ materially from those described in the
forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are also
expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements
included in Avalon's Securities and Exchange Commission filings,
including its quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and its annual report
on Form 10-K. Avalon is under no obligation to (and expressly
disclaims any such obligation to) update or alter its
forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise. Contacts: Avalon Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Noonan Russo Gary Lessing Wendy Lau (Media) Executive Vice
President & CFO Tel: (212) 845-4272 Tel: (301) 556-9900 Fax:
(301) 556-9910 The Trout Group LLC Email: Chad Rubin (Investors)
Tel: (212) 477-9007 ext. 47 DATASOURCE: Avalon Pharmaceuticals,
Inc. CONTACT: Gary Lessing, Executive Vice President & CFO,
Avalon Pharmaceuticals, Inc., +1-301-556-9900, Fax:
+1-301-556-9910, ; Wendy Lau (Media), Noonan Russo,
+1-212-845-4272; Chad Rubin (Investors), The Trout Group LLC,
+1-212-477-9007, ext. 47 Web site: http://www.avalonrx.com/
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