Sanofi-Aventis acquires exclusive global rights to CureDM's Pancreate

CureDM, LLC announced today that an agreement has been signed with Sanofi-Aventis (EURONEXT: SAN and NYSE: SNY) for the exclusive worldwide license of Pancreate™, a novel islet neogenesis agent for the treatment of type 1 and type 2 diabetes. CureDM is a privately held biopharmaceutical company whose scientists discovered Pancreate™, a first-in-class human peptide therapeutic. Several key Composition of Matter and Use patents have been issued to CureDM for this potentially transforming treatment approach for diabetes.

“We believe that Sanofi-Aventis is the ideal partner to bring our novel therapeutic approach to patients, given Sanofi's leading and far reaching strategic commitment in the field of diabetes.”

"We are extremely pleased to have the opportunity to partner with one of the most innovative global pharmaceutical companies," said H. Joseph Reiser, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of CureDM. "We believe that Sanofi-Aventis is the ideal partner to bring our novel therapeutic approach to patients, given Sanofi's leading and far reaching strategic commitment in the field of diabetes."

Under this agreement, Sanofi-Aventis acquires the exclusive worldwide rights to manufacture, develop and market CureDM's Pancreate™ (proisletide acetate), for the treatment of diabetes in human and veterinary applications. In preclinical studies, Pancreate™ has been shown to stimulate the growth of new insulin producing islets in the pancreas, resulting in restoration of normal metabolic function and glucose control. CureDM has reached late stage preclinical development and anticipates the initiation of phase I clinical trials later this year.

Jaime A. Davidson, M.D., FACP, MACE, Clinical Professor of Internal Medicine, University of Texas and former FDA Advisory Committee Member for Diabetes and Metabolism, considers Pancreate™ "a truly innovative new treatment option with a mechanism of action totally different from any of the presently available medications. It has the possibility of preventing the progressive glucose deterioration in the natural history of type 2 diabetes."

Under the terms of the agreement, CureDM will receive an upfront cash payment and success- based development, regulatory and sales performance milestone payments totalling 335 Million USD. In addition, CureDM is eligible to receive increasing royalties on worldwide product sales.