DBL Investors News
DBL Investors News
FIVEPRIME AND PFIZER ENTER ONCOLOGY AND DIABETES COLLABORATION
SAN FRANCISCO, California – May 20, 2008. Five Prime Therapeutics, Inc. and Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) today announced the initiation of a worldwide collaborative research and license agreement. The collaboration will focus on the discovery of antibody targets and novel therapeutic protein products to treat certain areas of cancer and diabetes. Under the collaboration, FivePrime will screen its comprehensive protein library in both cell-based assays and primary in vivo screens directed toward finding potential therapeutic protein products and antibody targets.
Upon the commencement of the collaboration, FivePrime will receive an up-front payment and
an equity investment from Pfizer and three years of committed research funding. Pfizer will
have exclusive worldwide rights to develop and commercialize certain products and targets
discovered during the research term, in exchange for future milestones and royalties. Further
details of the agreement have not been disclosed.
“Pfizer’s commitment to biotherapeutics and its extensive development and commercialization
capabilities are an ideal match for FivePrime’s powerful biologics discovery platform. This
combination will increase the likelihood and speed of discovering and developing new
biotherapeutics for patients in need” stated Lewis T. (“Rusty”) Williams, MD, PhD, FivePrime’s
Founder and Executive Chairman.
FivePrime’s existing investors made a co-investment in FivePrime in conjunction with Pfizer’s
equity purchase. “This is a very significant transaction for FivePrime,” commented Gail Maderis,
President and CEO of FivePrime. “It provides the financial runway to take several of our
oncology products into clinical trials in addition to greatly expanding our discovery efforts.”
A key component of the collaboration is FivePrime’s comprehensive, rapid protein discovery
system. Its protein screening library contains essentially all human secreted proteins and their
receptors, including many that are unavailable in public collections. FivePrime screens its
protein library in both complex, primary cell assays and in high-throughput in vivo systems. The
in vivo technology is also used for rapid validation of hits, significantly reducing the time from an
idea to an Investigational New Drug.
“We are very excited about this research collaboration, as it will fill a core need for Pfizer’s new
biologics enterprise, the Biotherapeutics and Bioinnovation Center (BBC),” said BBC President
Corey Goodman, PhD. “Our mission is to gain access to the best internal and external science
and to achieve Pfizer’s corporate ambition of becoming a global leader in biotherapeutics. The
investment and partnership with FivePrime represents a key milestone in our efforts as we are
confident it will generate therapeutic proteins and antibodies that will ultimately lead to
innovative medicines for patients worldwide.”
About FivePrime
FivePrime is a privately held protein therapeutics discovery and development company located
in San Francisco’s Mission Bay development. FivePrime’s most advanced programs are in
oncology, with its lead biotherapeutic (FP-1039) slated to enter clinical testing in 2008, and two
additional products in advanced preclinical development. FivePrime has discovery
collaborations with Boehringer Ingelheim in the field of rheumatoid arthritis and with Centocor in
the field of pulmonary fibrosis and osteoarthritis to identify new biotherapeutics and antibody
targets. For more information please visit www.fiveprime.com.
About Pfizer Inc. and the Biotherapeutics and Bioinnovation Center (BBC)
Pfizer Inc. is the world's largest research-based biomedical and pharmaceutical company,
employing approximately 87,000 colleagues in more than 150 countries. In 2007, Pfizer earned
$48.4 billion in revenues and invested $8.1 billion in research and development. The BBC is
based in the San Francisco Bay Area of California and combines cutting-edge biology, new
platform technologies, and advanced research tools to discover and develop new medicines.
This new venture is a significant departure for Pfizer and the pharmaceutical industry. Located
in one of the hubs of biotechnology, the BBC has the entrepreneurial spirit of biotech and will
collaborate broadly with the academic, biotech, and venture communities to focus on
discovering and developing new medicines. For more information please visit www.pfizer.com.