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EMO
Biomedicine of Taipei Announces Intent to Form Cell Therapy
Joint Venture with Chromos Molecular Systems of Canada to
Treat Chronic Hepatitis B
For Immediate
Release: December 22, 2005
Through the
strong guidance and assistance from BPIPO (Biotechnology &
Pharmaceutical Industries Program Office, Ministry of
Economic Affairs, Taiwan) and lead in from MDS Capital of
Canada, Danshuei Jen, Taipei, Taiwan: – EMO Biomedicine
Corporation announced today that a Letter of Understanding
to form a joint venture in Taiwan has been signed with
Chromos Molecular Systems, Inc, a cell-engineering and
development company based in Burnaby, British Columbia,
Canada.
“We have an
exciting opportunity to efficiently launch a clinical trial
with an aim to cure chronic hepatitis B,” said Shing-Mou
Lee, President of EMO Biomedicine. “This chronic disease is
endemic throughout Asia, and current treatments do not
eliminate the progressive liver damage that can lead to
hepatocellular carcinoma, the number one cause of death in
men over 40 in Taiwan.”
The Chromos REM technology is a proprietary method for the
isolation and expansion of antigen-specific T-cells in order
to enhance the body's natural ability to fight disease. The
REM method selects the rare T cells that are capable of
eliminating disease and expands these cells to clinically
relevant numbers that allow the body to fight the disease
effectively.
“We are
extremely pleased to announce this agreement with EMO,” said
Alistair Duncan, President and CEO of Chromos. “The chronic
hepatitis B product and the REM program are poised for
immediate technology transfer and clinical testing can begin
in the near term to address this long-term healthcare
problem in the nation of Taiwan as well as the rest of
Asia.”
Under terms
of a definitive agreement outlined in the letter of
understanding, Chromos would provide the joint venture an
exclusive license to use REM technology as a platform to
develop and commercialize cell therapies for treatment of
infectious disease and cancer in Taiwan and an option to
expand its license to other parts of Asia. The joint venture
will focus initially on obtaining product efficacy data by
performing clinical trials to treat chronic Hepatitis B.
Chromos will provide the existing clinical design and
protocol, critical reagents, documentation, and on-site
technology transfer for the manufacture of anti-Hepatitis B
cell therapy product in Taiwan. EMO will provide the GTP
manufacturing facility, personnel, clinical, quality, and
regulatory oversight, and local and regional relationships
and partnerships to manage the joint venture operations.
Completing the transaction depends on securing adequate
financing for the joint venture and signing definitive
agreements.
“I look
forward to working with our healthcare, university,
government, and financial communities in Taiwan and other
nations in Asia,” said Lee. “Together, we can establish an
innovative and exciting new company that seeks to address a
substantial unmet medical need for patients in Asia who are
suffering from this debilitating and eventually deadly
disease”.
About
Chronic Hepatitis B
HBV is a virus that infects liver cells and results in
significant morbidity and mortality. The Hepatitis
Foundation International estimates that more than 2 billion
people worldwide have been exposed HBV and, of those, over
350.0 million people are chronically infected. While many
HBV carriers show no outward signs of the disease, symptoms
can include jaundice, fatigue, abdominal pain, loss of
appetite, intermittent nausea and vomiting. In addition,
approximately 25.0% to 30.0% of patients experience
symptomatic disease such as cirrhosis (scarring of the
liver), liver cancer and liver failure. The HBV vaccine is
effective and generates more than US$1Billion in annual
sales, however, current treatments and therapies for those
already infected do not cure chronic HBV.
About EMO
EMO was founded in 2004 by Shing-Mou Lee, a cell therapy
entrepreneur and medical technologist with former roles as
VP of research at Alarvita BioLife and many years of senior
research at the Development Center for Biotechnology in
Taipei. EMO’s new class 10,000 GTP pilot manufacturing
facility is designed to manufacture product for Phase I and
II clinical trials. EMO also provides cell-based assay
services to quality healthcare, pharmaceutical, and
biotechnology clients in Taiwan, Japan, and China.
About
Chromos
Chromos employs proprietary technology to develop,
manufacture and commercialize innovative biological
therapies for debilitating diseases. Chromos has exclusive
worldwide rights to two platform technologies, the ACE
System (Artificial Chromosome Expression System) and REM
(Rapid Expansion Method) technology. In the near term,
Chromos will focus on continued commercialization of the ACE
System for engineering cell lines for biopharmaceutical
manufacture. To date Chromos has entered into corporate
partnerships with partners including Pfizer Inc., Centocor,
Inc., BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company) and Cambridge
Antibody Technology. In addition, the Company has strategic
alliances with AppTec Laboratory Services, Inc., a leading
biopharmaceutical contract manufacturer and with SAFC
Biosciences, a member of the Sigma-Aldrich Group providing
cell culture media development services to biopharmaceutical
customers.
Certain of
the statements contained in this press release are
forward-looking statements which involve known and unknown
risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the
actual results, performance to be materially different from
any future results, performance or achievements expressed or
implied by such forward-looking statements.
FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION:
Shing-Mou
Lee,
President, EMO Biomedicine Corp.
Tel: 02-2809-6390
Email: smlee@emobio.com
Website: www.emobio.com
Joseph
Zendegui, Ph.D.
Vice President, Corporate Development
Chromos Molecular Systems, Inc.
Tel: 604-415-7128
Email: jzendegui@chromos.com
Website: www.chromos.com
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