Alexion Acquires All Rights to OMRF Patents Related to ... ( CHESHIRE Conn. Feb. 14 /- The Okl...)

Alexion Acquires All Rights to OMRF Patents Related to Soliris(R)

Date:2/14/2008

CHESHIRE, Conn., Feb. 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation ("OMRF") and Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ("Alexion," Nasdaq: ALXN) today announced that Alexion has agreed to acquire from OMRF all rights to certain patents related to complement-inhibition technology.

Background

The patents cover inventions made by OMRF in the 1980s relating to the treatment of complement system mediated disorders, to which Alexion has had limited rights as a licensee since the inception of the company. In the 1990s, Alexion began programs to create and develop monoclonal antibodies capable of blocking the body's complement system. One result of these Alexion programs was the development of Soliris(R), which was approved for marketing by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and by the European Commission during 2007. Soliris(R) (eculizumab) is a complement inhibitor product developed and marketed by Alexion for the treatment of paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria ("PNH"), a rare, debilitating and life-threatening disease.

"Soliris opened a major new therapeutic avenue for patients with PNH, and the scientists at Alexion had to overcome tremendous obstacles to make this treatment a reality," said OMRF President Stephen Prescott, M.D. "I am proud that Peter Sims, M.D., Ph.D., and Therese Wiedmer, Ph.D., while working as scientists at OMRF and in their subsequent careers, had the opportunity to contribute to bringing this much-needed treatment to patients suffering from a life-threatening disease."

"Complex scientific breakthroughs are often built by combining research advances from different sources," said David Keiser, President and Chief Operating Officer of Alexion. "OMRF is widely respected for its technological accomplishments, and we thank the OMRF team for its contributions to the development of our anti-complement technology."

Under an agreement recently executed by the two organizations, Alexion will pay O
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Alexion Acquires All Rights to OMRF Patents Related to ...( CHESHIRE Conn. Feb. 14 /- The Okl...)