CuraGen Corporation – ‘8-K’ for 9/18/02 – EX-99.1

On:  Wednesday, 9/18/02, at 5:15pm ET   ·   For:  9/18/02   ·   Accession #:  927016-2-4600   ·   File #:  0-23223

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Current Report   —   Form 8-K
Filing Table of Contents

Document/Exhibit                   Description                      Pages   Size 

 1: 8-K         Current Report                                         3     10K 
 2: EX-99.1     Press Release                                          2     13K 

EX-99.1   —   Press Release

EX-99.1
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                                                                    Exhibit 99.1

[CURAGEN CORPORATION LOGO]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contacts:           Bayer:                           CuraGen Corporation:       
--------            Christina Sehnert                Mark R. Vincent            
       +49 214/30-66102                 1-888-GENOMICS
        www.bayer.com                    www.curagen.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                           
---------------------                                                           

 CuraGen and Bayer Identify Key Markers of Liver Toxicity and Create
Industrialized, Predictive Toxicogenomics Screen

-New Technology To Identify Potential Drug Toxicities Moves to Production Phase-

Leverkusen, Germany and New Haven, CT, USA - September 18, 2002 - Bayer AG      
(NYSE: BAY), an international, research-based group with major businesses in    
healthcare, agriculture, polymers and specialty chemicals, and CuraGen          
Corporation (NASDAQ: CRGN), an integrated genomics-based pharmaceutical company,
today announced that CuraGen scientists, in collaboration with Bayer's          
toxicologists, have developed an innovative technology capable of predicting a  
drug compound's potential for toxicity. The Predictive Toxicogenomics Screen(TM)
evaluates drug compound toxicities using very small quantities of compounds that
are available immediately after high-throughput drug screening and well in      
advance of the expensive drug scale-up required for mammalian safety            
experiments. Utilizing the Predictive Toxicogenomics Screen early in the drug   
development process, scientists are able to rank-order compounds by their       
predicted safety profiles. By providing scientists with additional insight into 
a drug's toxicity, this pioneering technology is capable of generating          
information that can potentially save millions of dollars in research and       
development expenses.                                                           

Bayer and CuraGen scientists have completed evaluating more than 150 preclinical
drug compounds with the Predictive Toxicogenomics Screen and have ranked these  
compounds according to their potential for toxicity. Based upon the success     
achieved through the initial application of this predictive technology, Bayer   
and CuraGen scientists are now applying the technology to conduct drug toxicity 
evaluations on Bayer's small molecule research pipeline. CuraGen received a     
milestone payment of $2.9 million from Bayer for successfully developing this   
technology and industrializing it into a high-throughput format.                

"The development of CuraGen's Predictive Toxicogenomics Screen is an excellent  
example of how CuraGen can industrialize complex technologies and apply them in 
a high-throughput manner to address the bottlenecks constraining drug           
development. The combined expertise of Bayer's toxicologists with CuraGen's     
scientists, engineers and bioinformaticians was critical to the successful      
development of this technology," stated Michael P. McKenna, Ph.D.,              
Vice-President of Collaborative Research for CuraGen Corporation. "We are now   
looking forward to applying this technology to CuraGen's and Bayer's drug       
development programs, and offering it as a service to our collaborative         
partners. We believe the adoption of this screen will offer a significant       
competitive advantage in pharmaceutical development," added Dr. McKenna.        

- MORE -

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CuraGen's industrialized Predictive Toxicogenomics Screen enables inexpensive   
cellular screening of thousands of compounds annually, and provides results on  
nine different modes of liver toxicity. Evidence of liver toxicity is one of the
primary reasons that drug compounds fail during preclinical development. Nearly 
75% of pharmaceutical research and development expenditures are devoted to      
developing drugs that never reach the market. Detailed information generated by 
this screen can be used by scientists to prioritize compounds based upon their  
potential for toxicity, in order to avoid work on compounds that are likely to  
fail in safety tests later in development.                                      

CuraGen and Bayer scientists developed this unique assay by analyzing more than 
100 known toxic compounds and identifying marker genes whose activity correlates
with specific modes of liver toxicity. These genes have been subcategorized into
marker sets predictive of nine specific liver histopathologies, including       
cholestasis, necrosis, or hypertrophy, and have been affixed to gene expression 
microarrays for use in high-throughput comparative analysis. Drug compounds     
under review are applied in extremely small quantities to primary hepatocyte    
cells in vitro. The cellular activity of these dosed compounds is then evaluated
against the proprietary toxicity markers. The results of this comparison provide
scientists with a rank-ordered list of compounds based upon their potential for 
toxicity, which can be used in determining which compounds have the highest     
likelihood for successful clinical development.                                 

CuraGen Corporation has been a pioneer in the field of pharmacogenomics, which  
includes the study of how drugs work, why drugs fail, and which characteristics 
are indicative of drug toxicity. CuraGen's expertise stems from pharmacogenomic 
research conducted with many of the world's leading pharmaceutical companies in 
prioritizing portions of their drug pipelines.                                  

CuraGen Corporation (NASDAQ: CRGN) is a genomics-based pharmaceutical company.  
CuraGen's integrated, functional genomic technologies and Internet-based        
bioinformatic systems are designed to generate comprehensive information about  
genes, human genetic variations, gene expression, protein interactions, protein 
pathways, and potential drugs that affect these pathways. The Company is        
applying its industrialized genomic technologies, informatics, and validation   
technologies to develop protein, antibody, and small molecule therapeutics to   
treat obesity and diabetes, cancer, inflammatory diseases, and central nervous  
system (CNS) disorders. CuraGen is headquartered in New Haven, CT. Additional   
information is available at www.curagen.com.                                    

This press release may contain forward-looking statements including statements  
about CuraGen applying its predictive toxicogenomics screen to address the      
bottlenecks constraining drug development, and the ability of the predictive    
toxicogenomics screen to offer a significant competitive advantage in           
pharmaceutical development. Such statements are based on management's current   
expectations and are subject to a number of factors and uncertainties that could
cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the           
forward-looking statements. CuraGen cautions investors that there can be no     
assurance that actual results or business conditions will not differ materially 
from those projected or suggested in such forward-looking statements as a result
of various factors, including, but not limited to, the following: CuraGen's     
expectation that it will incur operating losses in the near future, the early   
stage of development of CuraGen's products and technologies, uncertainties      
related to preclinical and clinical testing and trials, uncertainties and       
adverse results relating to CuraGen's ability to obtain regulatory approval for 
its products in development, uncertainties surrounding the availability of      
additional funding, CuraGen's reliance on research collaborations and strategic 
alliances, the actions of competitors, the development of competing             
technologies, CuraGen's ability to protect its patents and proprietary rights,  
patent infringement actions and uncertainties relating to commercialization     
rights. Please refer to our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended
December 31, 2001 for a description of these risks. We disclaim any intention or
obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a     
result of new information, future events, or otherwise.                         

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Dates Referenced Herein   and   Documents Incorporated by Reference

				Referenced-On Page
This ‘8-K’ Filing		Date		First		Last			Other Filings
Filed on / For Period End:		9/18/02		1
		12/31/01		2					10-K
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