Knopp Neurosciences forms new parent entity

Knopp Neurosciences Inc. announced today that it has formed a new parent entity called Knopp Biosciences LLC to expand operations with the goal of becoming a more broadly integrated biopharmaceutical company.

“While expanding our discovery research capabilities, Knopp Biosciences will take steps toward becoming a more integrated company with both development and commercialization activities.”

The corporate restructuring follows an August 2010 agreement under which Biogen Idec (NASDAQ: BIIB) secured exclusive global rights to develop and commercialize KNS-760704 (dexpramipexole) from Knopp Neurosciences ("KNS"). KNS remains the licensor of assets associated with KNS-760704 but has distributed its other assets and operations to Knopp Biosciences, with a corresponding shareholder recapitalization. The transferred assets and operations include the discovery research activities of KNS, which are directed to pharmacological mediation of mitochondrial disease mechanisms.

"Knopp Biosciences establishes a platform for corporate growth while signaling the potential to apply our discovery research in therapeutic areas beyond neuroscience," said Michael Bozik, M.D., President and CEO. "While expanding our discovery research capabilities, Knopp Biosciences will take steps toward becoming a more integrated company with both development and commercialization activities." He also noted that Knopp Biosciences will support the role of KNS in the licensing arrangement with Biogen Idec, which, as previously reported, expects to initiate Phase 3 development of KNS-760704 in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in the first half of 2011.

Knopp Biosciences remains on Pittsburgh's South Side at the street address of KNS.