8th Dec 2006 09:00
GlaxoSmithKline PLC08 December 2006 Issued - Friday 8 December 2006, London, UK GlaxoSmithKline To Acquire Domantis for £230 Million GSK Will Further Expand Its Biopharmaceuticals Portfolio With Acquisition of Pioneering Antibody Technology GlaxoSmithKline plc (GSK) today announces that it has entered into an agreementto acquire Domantis Ltd, a leader in developing the next generation of antibodytherapies, for £230 million (US$454 million) in cash. Domantis, aprivately owned company, will become part of GSK's Biopharmaceuticals Centre ofExcellence for Drug Discovery (CEDD) while continuing to operate fromlaboratories in Cambridge, UK. The acquisition agreement is subject to clearance under the Hart-Scott-RodinoAntitrust Improvements Act and is expected to complete in January. "Domantis has pioneered the extension of antibody therapies to potentially farwider applications than has been possible with conventional monoclonalantibodies," said Mike Owen, Senior Vice President, Biopharmaceuticals CEDD,GSK. "Its talent and world-leading technology will complement the work we arealready taking forward in the CEDD to put GSK at the forefront of biotechnology." Robert Connelly, Domantis founding Chief Executive Officer, said, "The agreementwith GSK allows us to embed our R&D organization intact within a companycommitted to fully exploiting the potential therapeutic applications of ourtechnology. I am delighted that GSK has made this major investment in ourtechnology, our people, and our product pipeline." Next-generation antibody therapy Monoclonal antibodies, laboratory-engineered versions of the antibodies found inthe natural immune system, can bind with exquisite precision to targets in thebody. Yet their therapeutic applications, while growing rapidly, have beenconstrained by their large molecular size. Currently marketed therapeuticantibodies have to be administered by injection or infusion. Founded in 2000 by Ian Tomlinson and Sir Gregory Winter, Domantis has pioneeredthe next generation of antibody therapy, which is based on the smallestfunctional binding units of human antibodies. These units, termed domainantibodies (dAbs), may be administered in inhaled, topical, and, potentially,oral formulations as well as by injection and infusion. The Domantis technologyalso enables dAbs to serve as building blocks for therapeutics simultaneouslydirected at more than one disease target. Current research programmes at Domantis address diseases including rheumatoidarthritis, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and multiple myeloma. "When Sir Gregory and I founded Domantis, our aim was to build a world-class R&Dteam capable of producing a wide range of dAb products that would have a majorimpact in medicine," said Dr Tomlinson, formerly of the UK Medical ResearchCouncil's Laboratory of Molecular Biology (MRC-LMB) and now Chief ScientificOfficer at Domantis. "The acquisition of Domantis by GSK highlights the tremendous potential andvalue of dAbs and provides the funding and capabilities to advance a largenumber of dAb products through clinical testing. Combining the coreprotein-engineering capabilities, technology, and intellectual property ofDomantis with the basic science and clinical and commercial strength of GSKcreates an opportunity to advance biopharmaceuticals on a global scale." Dr Tomlinson will continue to manage the Cambridge laboratories of Domantiswhile serving as a GSK executive in the Biopharmaceuticals CEDD reporting to DrOwen. Sir Gregory, who has been a member of the Board of Directors and Chairman of theScientific Advisory Board at Domantis, is Deputy Director of both the MRC-LMBand the MRC Centre of Protein Engineering. Biopharmaceuticals at GSK GSK has committed to becoming a leader in biopharmaceuticals by dedicating oneof its Centres of Excellence for Drug Discovery to this endeavour. Largepharmaceutical companies traditionally specialise in medicines that are smallmolecules, administered orally. Biopharmaceuticals, by contrast, are largemolecules typically administered by injection or infusion, though researchcontinues in other delivery technologies. Examples of biopharmaceuticals aremonoclonal antibodies, therapeutic vaccines, and recombinant therapeuticproteins. The Biopharmaceuticals CEDD is one of nine CEDDs in GSK which focus on specifictechnologies or therapeutic categories. The CEDDs, consisting ofcross-functional teams of scientists and physicians, manage the progression ofcompounds in the 'middle' of the pipeline, bridging the conventional gap betweendiscovery and development while drawing from the broader resources of the entireR&D organisation. S M Bicknell Company Secretary 8th December 2006 Notes to editors: • Scientists in the laboratories of Sir Gregory Winter first published their work with dAbs in Nature in 1989. The MRC-LMB has remained at the forefront of antibody research since monoclonal antibodies were invented there in the 1970's. • Domantis this year won the UK Innovation in Drug Discovery & Development Award sponsored by London First and UK Trade & Investment. • For further information about Domantis, please visit http://www.domantis.com. GlaxoSmithKline - one of the world's leading research-based pharmaceutical andhealthcare companies - is committed to improving the quality of human life byenabling people to do more, feel better and live longer. For companyinformation including a copy of this announcement and details of the company'supdated product development pipeline, visit GSK at www.gsk.com. Cautionary statement regarding forward-looking statements Under the safe harbour provisions of the US Private Securities Litigation ReformAct of 1995, the company cautions investors that any forward-looking statementsor projections made by the company, including those made in this Announcement,are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differmaterially from those projected. Factors that may affect the Group's operationsare described under 'Risk Factors' in the 'Operating and Financial Review andProspects' in the company's Annual Report 2005. Enquiries: UK Media enquiries: Philip Thomson (020) 8047 5502 Alice Hunt (020) 8047 5502 Gwenan White (020) 8047 5502 US Media enquiries: Nancy Pekarek (215) 751 7709 Mary Anne Rhyne (919) 483 2839 Patricia Seif (215) 751 7709 European Analyst/Investor enquiries: Anita Kidgell (020) 8047 5542 Jen Hill (215) 751 7199 David Mawdsley (020) 8047 5564 Sally Ferguson (020) 8047 5543 US Analyst/ Investor enquiries: Frank Murdolo (215) 751 7002 Tom Curry (215) 751 5419 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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