Xenova Group plc Sale of Farnham Research Facility to Bioventix
January 06 2004 - 2:00AM
PR Newswire (US)
Xenova Group plc Sale of Farnham Research Facility to Bioventix
SLOUGH, England, Jan. 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Xenova Group plc
today announced that it has sold certain premises at its Farnham
research facility together with related assets to Bioventix Limited
("Bioventix"). The sale assets constitute part of the business
acquired by the Group upon the acquisition of KS Biomedix Holdings
plc. The consideration for the sale assets was �0.8m paid in cash.
The sale includes certain rights to intellectual property relating
to super high-affinity antibodies that are not being developed by
Xenova, and provides for the continuation of work by Bioventix on
novel three-part proteins ("trimers") being developed under an
option agreement with Isis Innovations Ltd. Xenova has retained an
option to develop any promising therapeutic candidates arising from
this work. In addition, a team of 7 research scientists is
transferring with the business to Bioventix. The sale is in line
with Xenova's declared strategy following the acquisition of KS
Biomedix Holdings plc on 12 September 2003, of focusing on its
clinical development portfolio and achieving cost savings through
the disposal of non-core business activities and facilities.
Commenting on the disposal, David Oxlade, Chief Executive of
Xenova, said, "We are pleased to announce continuing progress in
achieving the cost savings expected at the time of the acquisition
of KS Biomedix Holdings plc and to realize value from non-core
assets for our shareholders. The sale to Bioventix, which is being
run by Peter Harrison formerly of KS Biomedix, also provides Xenova
an option to in-license certain therapeutic candidates." Notes to
Editors Xenova Group plc's product pipeline focuses principally on
the therapeutic areas of cancer and immune system disorders. Xenova
has a broad pipeline of programs in clinical development. The Group
has a well-established track record in the identification,
development and partnering of innovative products and technologies
and has partnerships with significant pharmaceutical and
biopharmaceutical companies including Celltech, Genentech, Lilly,
Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Nycomed, Pfizer and QLT. Bioventix Ltd
is a company that was formed in order to acquire certain premises
at Xenova's Farnham research facility together with related assets
and aims to develop and commercialize antibodies and antibody
fragments and derivatives initially derived from sheep as
diagnostic and therapeutic products. As a result, the Company will
sell unlabelled sheep antibodies to T3 for diagnostic use and
rights to develop new diagnostic and therapeutic products to other
targets. (These rights exclude directly and indirectly labeled
diagnostic products to carcino-embryonic antigen (CEA) and directly
labeled therapeutic products to CEA.). Bioventix will also develop
novel trimeric antibody entities for use in targeting solid tumors.
For further information about Xenova and its products please visit
the Xenova website at http://www.xenova.co.uk/. For Xenova:
Disclaimer to take advantage of the "Safe Harbor" provisions of the
US Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. This press
release contains "forward-looking statements," including statements
about our ability to integrate acquired businesses and realize cost
savings from integration, and the discovery, development and
commercialization of products. Various risks may cause Xenova's
actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied
by the forward looking statements, including: unexpected costs and
delays in integrating acquired businesses into our group, adverse
results in our drug discovery and clinical development programs;
failure to obtain patent protection for our discoveries; commercial
limitations imposed by patents owned or controlled by third
parties; our dependence upon strategic alliance partners to develop
and commercialize products and services; difficulties or delays in
obtaining regulatory approvals to market products and services
resulting from our development efforts; the requirement for
substantial funding to conduct research and development and to
expand commercialization activities; and product initiatives by
competitors. For a further list and description of the risks and
uncertainties we face, see the reports we have filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission. We disclaim any intention or
obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements,
whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
DATASOURCE: Xenova Group plc CONTACT: UK: David A Oxlade, Chief
Executive Officer, or Daniel Abrams, Finance Director, or Veronica
Cefis Sellar, Corporate Communications, all of Xenova Group plc,
+44-1753-706600; or David Yates or Ben Atwell, both of Financial
Dynamics, +44-207-831-3113; or US: Daniel Budwick (Ext 14), or
Press: Brad Miles (Ext 17), or Lee Stern (Ext 22), or Investors:
Jonathan Fassberg (Ext 16), all of Trout Group - BMC
Communications, +1-212-477-9007 Web site: http://www.xenova.co.uk/
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