Thrombogenics announces agreement with Millipore for commercialization of stem cell technology

ThromboGenics NV has announced that it has completed a global license agreement with Millipore Corporation under which ThromboGenics will exclusively license its technology for production of the proprietary stem cell culture medium marketed by Millipore as RESGRO(x).

The technology for producing RESGRO was originally developed by the ThromboGenics drug discovery team as part of its successful efforts to identify several of its drug discovery candidates currently in clinical trials.

Under this agreement, ThromboGenics will license to Millipore its patents, data and know-how for the manufacturing, development and evaluation of RESGRO. Millipore will assume responsibility for the exclusive production and sales of the medium, as well as all future costs. ThromboGenics will receive upfront and milestone payments, and will earn double digit royalties on Millipore's sales.

ThromboGenics is outlicensing this important stem cell research platform as part of its strategic plan to focus resources on the company's clinical pipeline. Revenue derived from this license will be used toward the acceleration and expansion of clinical programs for several promising drug candidates, including microplasmin for treatment of back of the eye diseases and certain vascular disorders, and TB-402, a novel anti-coagulant therapy for prevention of thrombosis in a number of important disease settings.

Millipore (through its Chemicon(R) division) began marketing RESGRO in 2005, with manufacturing provided in-house by ThromboGenics. As a result of today's new agreement, Millipore will continue to make RESGRO available to the worldwide stem cell research community through its sales team. Millipore is recognized as a global leader in providing reagents, kits and cell culture supplements to the academic, pharmaceutical and biotechnology markets.

The success of RESGRO for worldwide use in stem cell research is the culmination of an extensive R&D effort at ThromboGenics. ThromboGenics has utilized this improved stem cell platform as a means to identify promising new drug candidates, several of which have now advanced into clinical trials.

Research conducted at ThromboGenics using this outlicensed stem cell platform has led to the discovery of novel drug targets, validating the use of this technology for discovery of potential new pharmaceuticals. Experimental results in which RESGRO was used to expand mouse cell populations have been reported in several publications.

Commenting on today's announcement, Prof. Desire Collen, CEO of ThromboGenics, said: "We are pleased to announce this license with Millipore, a company with a well-respected reputation in stem cell research. We believe this agreement will place our proprietary technology in highly capable hands, enabling and ensuring the production, sales and distribution of an important tool for improved transgenesis. This deal, which demonstrates ThromboGenics cutting edge science, will allow us to generate additional financial resources to invest in our late stage clinical pipeline."