Celera Corporation (NASDAQ:CRA) today announced an exclusive license
agreement with Bayer Schering Pharma AG, providing Bayer Schering Pharma
with access to five cancer-related targets for therapeutic development
and in-vivo diagnostic imaging. These therapeutic targets are
over-expressed on the surface of several different tumor cell types and
were identified using Celera's proteomics discovery platform.
Under the terms of the agreement, Bayer Schering Pharma will pay Celera
a one-time fee for the exclusive access to the five targets. Additional
payments are due upon achievement of certain development and commercial
milestones. Further, upon commercialization of a product Celera is
entitled to royalties based on net sales of a product. Celera retains in
vitro diagnostic rights, and it will be able to develop and
commercialize related companion in-vitro diagnostics that are specific
to therapeutic candidates arising from Bayer Schering Pharma’s program.
“This agreement combines the strength of our novel proteomics target
discovery platform with Bayer Schering Pharma’s expertise in research
and development,” said Steve Ruben, Ph.D., vice president of proteomic
research at Celera. “We believe this new relationship with Bayer
Schering Pharma allows us the flexibility to advance part of our broad
pipeline of validated targets for additional future value.”
“This agreement allows us to expand our existing research portfolio in
the area of cancer-related targets,” said Khusru Asadullah, MD, Head of
Target Discovery at Bayer Schering Pharma. “We look forward to exploring
the full potential of these promising target candidates with regard to
therapeutic interference for anti-tumor therapy as well as in in-vivo
diagnostic imaging.”
About Celera
Celera is a healthcare business delivering personalized disease
management through a combination of products and services incorporating
proprietary discoveries. Berkeley HeartLab, a subsidiary of Celera,
offers services to predict cardiovascular disease risk and improve
patient management. Celera also commercializes a wide range of molecular
diagnostic products through Abbott and has licensed other relevant
diagnostic technologies developed to provide personalized disease
management in cancer and liver diseases. Information about Celera
Corporation, including reports and other information filed by the
company with the Securities and Exchange Commission, is available at http://www.celera.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking.
