Oncolys BioPharma and Tacere Therapeutics Sign Strategic Alliance and License Agreement to Develop and Commercialize RNAi Hepati...( TOKYO and SAN JOSE Calif. March 1...)

TOKYO and SAN JOSE, Calif., March 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Oncolys BioPharma, Inc. (Tokyo, Japan) and Tacere Therapeutics, Inc. (San Jose, CA, USA) announced today that they have entered into a strategic alliance and license agreement to develop and commercialize throughout Asia, Tacere's RNA interference (RNAi)-based Hepatitis C virus (HCV) compound, TT-033, code-named by Oncolys as OBP-701. This agreement resulted from the strategic alliance entered into by Tacere and Oncolys in June 2007, whereby Oncolys was granted an option to acquire the Asian rights for TT-033.

"We are very pleased to be taking our relationship with Oncolys to the next level. After partnering TT-033 with Pfizer outside of Asia in December 2007, this agreement gives global scope to the development of TT-033/OBP-701 as a first-in-class treatment option for HCV patients," said Sara M. Hall, Chief Executive Officer of Tacere.

"We are extremely excited about solidifying this historic agreement with Tacere," said Yasuo Urata, President and Chief Executive Officer of Oncolys. "We recognized the power of this new approach to treating HCV and are delighted to see that the pharmaceutical industry has validated our investment in Tacere and this drug. More than ever, we believe that TT-033/OBP-701 will enable us to offer new treatments for patients suffering from HCV."

Under the terms of the agreement, Oncolys and Tacere will form a joint steering committee that will work with the Tacere and Pfizer steering committee to oversee preclinical research and development efforts for TT-033/OBP-701.

In addition to an up-front payment, Tacere will be eligible to receive milestone payments through successful achievement of development, approval, and commercialization milestones resulting in total potential payments to Tacere of up to $60 million. Upon commercialization of TT-033/OBP-701, Tacere would be entitled to receive royalties on net sales by Oncolys. Further, if Oncolys sublicen
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