XTL Biopharmaceuticals Signs $108 Million Deal for the Licensing of its Pre- Clinical Program in Hepatitis C to Presidio Pharmac
20 March 2008 - 10:35PM
PR Newswire (US)
VALLEY COTTAGE, N.Y., March 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- XTL
Biopharmaceuticals Ltd. (NASDAQ:XTLBNASDAQ:TASE:NASDAQ:XTL)
announced the licensing of its pre-clinical program in Hepatitis C
focused on the NS5A target (the "Program") to San-Francisco based
Presidio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Presidio is a private biotechnology
company focused on the development and commercialization of
anti-viral therapeutics and is backed by some of the most prominent
investors in the biotechnology sector, including Panorama Capital,
Bay City Capital, Baker Brothers Investments, and Ventures West.
Presidio's scientific team is headed by Dr. Richard Colonno, who
until recently was Vice President of Infectious Disease Drug
Discovery at Bristol-Myers Squibb, where he was responsible for
Bristol-Myers Squibb's antiviral drug discovery efforts, including
their Hepatitis C and B and HIV programs. Under the license
agreement, Presidio becomes responsible for all further development
and commercialization activities and costs relating to the Program.
XTL will receive an upfront payment of $4 million, and up to an
additional $104 million upon reaching certain development and
commercialization milestones. In addition, XTL will receive a
royalty on direct product sales by Presidio, and a percentage of
Presidio's income if the Program is sublicensed by Presidio to a
third party. Ram Waisbourd, Vice President of Business Development
of XTL, commented: "We have great confidence in Presidio's ability
to move the Program forward rapidly. We believe that Presidio has a
dynamic and experienced management team, and a solid scientific
team headed by Dr. Richard Colonno -- who was a major contributor
to the discovery and advancement of several antiviral drug
candidates into clinical trials, two of which, atazanavir for HIV,
and entecavir for Hepatitis B, are currently approved drugs." Ron
Bentsur, XTL's CEO commented: "We are excited about this licensing
transaction with a motivated and capable partner such as Presidio.
This transaction allows us to solidify our financial position by
bringing in $4 million dollars in cash and eliminating the ongoing
development expense of the Program, while preserving a significant
share in the Program's future success. We believe that this
transaction extends our financial resources well into Q1 2009, and
provides us with a financial cushion as we head towards the
completion and announcement of results from the Bicifadine Phase 2b
study, expected in Q4 2008." The Program focuses on the development
of novel small molecule inhibitors against the Hepatitis C virus,
and is presently in advanced stages of lead optimization. The
current lead compounds target NS5A - a viral protein that is
essential for viral production. NS5A is distinct from the protease
and polymerase. The Program's lead compounds are highly potent
inhibitors of viral replication in the replicon assay, which is
known to have good correlation with clinical efficacy and is
currently the leading method for preclinical testing of inhibitors
of the Hepatitis C Virus. ABOUT XTL BIOPHARMACEUTICALS LTD. XTL
Biopharmaceuticals Ltd. ("XTL") is engaged in the development of
therapeutics for the treatment of diabetic neuropathic pain and
HCV. XTL is developing Bicifadine, a serotonin and norepinephrine
reuptake inhibitor, for the treatment of diabetic neuropathic pain,
which is currently in a Phase 2b study. XTL has out-licensed its
novel pre-clinical HCV small molecule inhibitor program. XTL also
has an active in-licensing and acquisition program designed to
identify and acquire additional drug candidates. XTL is publicly
traded on the NASDAQ and Tel-Aviv Stock Exchanges
(NASDAQ:XTLB)(TASE:XTL). Contact: Ron Bentsur, Chief Executive
Officer Tel: +1-(845)-267-0707 ext. 225 ABOUT PRESIDIO Presidio
Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a specialty pharmaceutical company focused
on the discovery, in-licensing, development and commercialization
of novel therapeutics for viral infections, including HIV and HCV.
Presidio has raised over $27 million in financing from Panorama
Capital, Baker Brothers Investments, Bay City Capital, Ventures
West, Nexus Medical Partners, and Sagamore Bioventures. For more
information, please visit our website at
http://www.presidiopharma.com/. Contact: Omar K. Haffar, Ph.D.
President and Chief Executive Officer 415-655-7561 Cautionary
Statement Some of the statements included in this press release,
particularly those anticipating future financial performance,
clinical and business prospects for our clinical compound for
neuropathic pain, Bicifadine, and for our pre- clinical compounds
for hepatitis C from our XTL-DOS program, growth and operating
strategies and similar matters, may be forward-looking statements
that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. For those
statements, we claim the protection of the safe harbor for
forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Among the factors that could cause
our actual results to differ materially is our ability to complete
in a timely and cost effective manner clinical trials on
Bicifadine, which could directly impact our ability to continue to
fund our operations; our ability to meet anticipated development
timelines for all of our drug candidates due to recruitment,
clinical trial results, manufacturing capabilities or other
factors; the success of our drug development and marketing
arrangements with third parties; and other risk factors identified
from time to time in our reports filed with the Securities and
Exchange Commission, including our annual report on Form 20-F filed
with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 23, 2007. Any
forward-looking statements set forth in this press release speak
only as of the date of this press release. We do not intend to
update any of these forward-looking statements to reflect events or
circumstances that occur after the date hereof. This press release
and prior releases are available at http://www.xtlbio.com/. The
information in our website is not incorporated by reference into
this press release and is included as an inactive textual reference
only. DATASOURCE: XTL Biopharmaceuticals Ltd. CONTACT: Ron Bentsur,
Chief Executive Officer, XTL Biopharmaceuticals Ltd.,
+1-845-267-0707 ext. 225; Omar K. Haffar, Ph.D., President and
Chief Executive Officer, Presidio Pharmaceuticals, Inc., ,
+1-415-655-7561 Web site: http://www.xtlbio.com/
http://www.presidiopharma.com/
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