Israel-Medical-Healthcare

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QBI licenses human gene to Pfizer

27.9.06 | 09:24 By Guy Griml
"This is the biggest deal ever made in Israel's biotech industry," Daniel Zurr, CEO of Quark Biotech Inc. (QBI) stated after the huge deal it signed yesterday with U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer.

Pfizer is acquiring an exclusive worldwide license to a human gene that Quark discovered, RTP-801 and to molecules that modify its expression or function.

Financial terms of the agreement were not announced, but it is believed to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

Quark will receive payment over a period of two to three years in accordance with agreed-upon milestones.

The interesting story behind QBI is the fact that its biggest investor is Larry Ellison, the founder and CEO of Oracle. QBI has raised about $150 million from investors so far.

Ellison is the primary shareholder, with less than 50% ownership. He began investing in QBI in the mid-1990s.

Additional investors in QBI include Mitsubishi Tokyo Pharmaceuticals and Taisho Pharmaceutical Co., as well as the Nobel prizewinner Prof. Joshua Lederberg and Dr. Joe Rubinfeld, who went on to found Amgen.

"We paid more than $95 million in royalties to two companies for the purchase of a license for drugs that we developed. We developed our medicines to prevent blindness on the basis of the purchase of these licenses. That is why the deal with Pfizer is worth hundreds of millions of dollars," Zurr explained.

The gene that QBI discovered, RTP-801, is involved in the development of pathologic blood vessels, which accelerate the progression of age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

AMD is the leading cause of blindness in the developed world, affecting about 15 million Americans over the age of 50.

The target for RTP-801 is neovascular or wet AMD. Wet AMD is the most devastating form of the disease and occurs due to the formation of an abnormal vascular network beneath the retina of the eye.

These blood vessels are excessively leaky and lead to an accumulation of fluid and blood beneath and within the retina resulting in a loss of visual acuity.

"Despite advances in research and the availability of new treatment options, there remains a need for new approaches to improve the lives of patients with AMD," said Martin Mackay, senior vice president for worldwide research and technology at Pfizer.

"We are pleased that Pfizer has chosen our novel target RTP-801 and biomolecules for its drug development program," Zurr said. "This agreement provides further recognition for Quark's creative approach to discover conceptually new drugs to treat devastating diseases. We are dedicated to helping society with innovative medicines by moving from novel gene targets to unique compounds and eventually commercial products."

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/767932.html