Agensys Announces Issuance of U.S. Patents for Two Novel Cancer Targets Santa Monica, Calif., January 3, 2002 - Agensys, Inc. announced today the issuance of U.S. patents on two novel targets for cancer therapy and diagnosis. U.S. patent 6,329,503, entitled "Serpentine transmembrane antigens expressed in human cancers and uses thereof," covers STEAP-1 protein sequences. The patent claims cover numerous protein compositions and their derived combinations, including proteins labeled with detectable markers, heterologous proteins or carriers. STEAP-1 is a novel cell surface ion channel, expressed at high levels in all prostate cancer patients, including those with hormone refractory and metastatic disease. STEAP-1 is also expressed in other solid tumors including bladder, lung and colon. Among normal tissues, STEAP-1 is expressed predominantly in prostate, a non-vital organ. These features make STEAP-1 an attractive target for antibody, small molecule, or vaccine therapies in several different cancers, as well as a diagnostic marker for those cancers. Some of the Company's studies on STEAP were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (December 1999). U.S. patent 6,277,972, entitled "BPC-1: a secreted brain-specific protein expressed and secreted by prostate and bladder cancer cells", covers BPC-1 polynucleotide sequences, their derived expression vectors and host cells and methods for production of BPC-1 protein. BPC-1 is a novel secreted protein that is expressed in advanced stages of prostate cancer. Among normal tissues, BPC-1 expression was found only in brain, an immune privileged organ, indicating that antibody therapies targeting BPC-1 should incur minimal side effects in cancer patients. These patents bring Agensys' intellectual property portfolio to 11 issued patents, which cover novel cancer targets and their derived antibodies, methods of use in cancer therapy and diagnosis, and proprietary xenograft models for prostate cancer. The Company has more than 140 pending patent applications. "Issuance of these patents demonstrates Agensys' strengths in discovery and validation of novel cancer targets that can be protected by patents" said Aya Jakobovits, Ph.D., Senior Vice President, Technology and Corporate Development, "These two patents describe genes and proteins that Agensys has validated as attractive targets for different modes of therapy. The Company is currently pursuing pre-clinical development of these and other targets in prostate and other solid tumor cancers." Agensys, Inc. (formerly UroGenesys, Inc.) is a privately held biotechnology company that exploits multiple product opportunities to develop fully human monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) to treat solid tumor cancers based on its own proprietary targets. The Company has discovered and validated a portfolio of more than 50 novel clinically relevant cancer targets that have been carefully selected to facilitate the objective of developing new efficacious therapeutics with fewer and less severe side effects. All of Agensys' cancer targets must meet the following criteria: (1) a novel molecule and/or have novel utility in cancer; (2) expression in a significant percentage of patients' specimens; (3) limited expression in normal vital tissues; and, (4) structural and functional features suitable for therapeutic intervention. In addition, many of the Company's targets are expressed in multiple solid tumors and are amenable to more than one therapeutic modality (antibody, small molecule, vaccine). The Company's discoveries offer targets for 11 solid tumor cancers including prostate, kidney, bladder, lung, and colon. While the Company plans to exploit all product opportunities for its portfolio of targets, internal efforts are concentrated on antibody therapy. The Company has signed a multi-year partnership agreement with Abgenix that provides for the generation of human MAbs to 25 Agensys targets using Abgenix' antibody technologies. In July 2000, Agensys signed a $33 million agreement with Genentech for the development of MAb therapy to Prostate Stem Cell Antigen (PSCA), one of its targets. The Company's laboratories and offices are located in Santa Monica, CA. For more information see www.agensys.com. Contacts Donald B. Rice President and CEO drice@agensys.com Aya Jakobovits, Ph.D. Vice President of Research; Chief Scientific Officer ajakobovits@agensys.com << Back to Press Releases