KineMed and Roche Enter Collaboration to Validate Translational KineMarker Technology in Fibrosis
EMERYVILLE, Calif. and PALO ALTO, Calif. - March 1, 2007
KineMed, Inc., a pathway-based drug discovery and development company, and Roche announced today that they have entered a collaboration to jointly validate KineMed’s novel translational KineMarker™ technology. KineMed’s technology measures the on-mechanism activity of compounds in whole body systems in animals and man, accelerating the translation of promising therapeutic agents into advanced clinical studies. In collaboration with Roche, KineMed will clinically validate its proprietary KineMarker of collagen synthesis, a dynamic therapeutic target underlying tissue fibrosis, in an undisclosed disease area.
David Fineman, President and CEO of KineMed, commented "Fibrosis is a critical process underlying important diseases affecting major organ systems, including the lungs, kidneys and liver. The research collaboration with Roche will help to establish our approach as a possible surrogate for an important indication and as a means for monitoring on-mechanism activity of drug candidates in ensuing clinical studies."
Mr. Fineman continued, "We are proud to enter this agreement with Roche, which represents a very specific application with broad implications for managing diseases. In addition to this work, our technology is being used in clinical studies and clinical-track research in diabetes, dyslipidemia and oncology. We are proud to see our translational technology gain increasing traction with drug developers in these important disease indications."
"As part of our commitment to develop innovative therapies for inflammatory and autoimmune disorders, we are intensifying our focus on developing novel biomarker modalities to better monitor disease processes and the effect of our therapies on pathways driving these outcomes," commented Anthony Manning, PhD, Vice-President and Global Head of Inflammation, Autoimmunity and Transplantation Research at Roche Palo Alto LLC in California. "Inappropriate collagen synthesis drives tissue fibrosis and organ dysfunction, and is an important pathway in chronic organ transplant rejection, in liver fibrosis and in fibrotic lung diseases. Our collaboration with Kinemed will allow us to move rapidly from the research laboratory into the clinic to validate the utility of this new technology."
About KineMed, Inc.
KineMed, Inc. ("KineMed" or the "Company") is a drug discovery and development company
employing its proprietary translational medicine technology (AquaTag™ and KineMarker™)
to both identify active drug candidates preclinically and confirm their therapeutic activity
and dose response in first-in-man studies. The Company is working to develop drugs both
on its own and with pharmaceutical collaborators in therapeutic focus areas where it can
demonstrate functional modulation of specific biological pathways that mediate disease.
KineMed's technology expedites the drug development process and provides real-time
insight into conditions including metabolic disorders, cancer, and diseases of inflammation
and neurodegeneration.
For further information about KineMed, please visit: http://www.kinemed.com/
About Roche
Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Roche is one of the world’s leading research-focused
healthcare groups with core businesses in pharmaceuticals and diagnostics. For more than
100 years, the Roche Group has been committed to developing innovative products and
services that address prevention, diagnosis and treatment of diseases, thus enhancing
people's health and quality of life. Roche has 1,000 people on its Palo Alto campus, located
adjacent to Stanford University in California’s Silicon Valley. It is one of five global research
centers and is focused on the discovery of new medicines to treat viral, inflammatory and
immune disorders and to support organ transplantation. For more information, please
access http://paloalto.roche.com or www.roche.us.
CONTACT: Brent Vaughan, Chief Business Officer of KineMed, Inc.,
+1-510-655-6525, ext. 110; or Media: Justin Jackson of Burns McClellan,
+1-212-213-0006, jjackson@burnsmc.com, for KineMed, Inc.
CONTACT
: Darien E. Wilson, Director, Public Affairs, Roche973-562-2232; darien_e.wilson@roche.com
