Melbourne, Aug 25, 2008 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Biota Holdings Limited (ASX:BTA) and AstraZeneca (LON:AZN)(NYSE:AZN) today announced that the 2005 Collaboration and License Agreement with MedImmune has been assigned to AstraZeneca. AstraZeneca has also secured the rights to a number of Asian and Pacific territories not held by MedImmune under the original agreement and for which Biota will receive an additional US$3.5 million payment, plus future royalties.
The Collaboration and License Agreement relates to a series of antivirals aimed at the treatment of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). The assignment of the agreement results in part from AstraZeneca's acquisition of MedImmune in 2007. Under the agreement, all existing milestone and royalty entitlements are preserved and Biota's research and development program has been extended. The lead candidate BTA9881 entered Phase I clinical trials in July 2007, which are continuing.
Peter Cook, Biota's Chief Executive Officer commented "We are very pleased to have AstraZeneca as licensee for our RSV program on a global basis. AstraZeneca's tremendous track record in developing and marketing small molecule therapeutics will be of great benefit in bringing new RSV products to the market."
Dr Brent Vose, Vice President & Head of AstraZeneca's Oncology & Infection Therapy Area commented "This is part of a growing commitment for AstraZeneca in antiviral therapies. We look forward to using our drug discovery and development expertise to bring Biota's innovative RSV platform to the benefit of patients worldwide with RSV. It will be an exciting collaboration in which we intend to leverage the strengths of both companies."
About AstraZeneca
AstraZeneca is a major international healthcare business engaged in research, development, manufacturing and marketing of prescription pharmaceuticals and supplier for healthcare services. AstraZeneca is one of the world's leading pharmaceutical companies with healthcare sales of US$29.55 billion and is a leader in gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, neuroscience, respiratory, oncology and infection product sales. AstraZeneca is listed in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (Global) as well as the FTSE4Good Index.
For more information visit www.astrazeneca.com.
About RSV
RSV is the most common respiratory infection in infancy or childhood. Approximately one half of all infants are infected with RSV within the first year of life. Nearly all children have been infected at least once by the time they reach their second birthday. Children born prematurely as well as those with chronic lung disease or congenital heart disease are at the highest risk of severe disease and hospitalisation due to RSV. The virus may also cause severe illness in the other high risk groups such as the elderly, those with underlying respiratory or cardiac disease, and those with compromised immune systems (e.g. HIV patients or patients undergoing chemotherapy).
Contact
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Peter Cook
T: +61 3 9915 3720
Damian Lismore
T: +61 3 9915 3721
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Nerida Mossop & Jo Lynch
Hinton & Associates
T: +61 3 9600 1979
M: +61 411 208 101
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