FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
GENENTECH TO COLLABORATE WITH ABC2
FOR BRAIN CANCER RESEARCH
- Biotech Company and Non-Profit Foundation Join Forces -
BURLINGAME, CA and SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, CA - February 25, 2002 - Accelerate
Brain Cancer Cure (ABC2), a non-profit foundation created by the Dan
and Steve Case families, and Genentech, Inc. (NYSE:DNA) today announced
a collaboration to develop new therapies specifically designed to
treat patients with brain cancer. This collaboration represents the
first of a series of collaborations for ABC2 based on a new model
of partnering between ABC2 and the bio-pharmaceutical industry to
rapidly move new therapies into the clinic to benefit patients with
this disease.
Under the collaboration, ABC2 will share development
expenses with Genentech and provide access to its resources, including
relationships with leading researchers and clinicians. Genentech
will contribute its world-renowned experience in designing and developing
pioneering therapeutics to the venture. Genentech would commercialize
any resulting products and ABC2 would receive a royalty on product
sales.
"Today's announcement represents a revolutionary new model for
us to work with the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries to
advance the search for a cure for this devastating disease,"
said Steve Case, Chairman of AOL/Time Warner, and Chairman of ABC2.
"This is just the first of a series of collaborations that ABC2
will announce which we believe will significantly improve the prospects
for treatment of brain cancer."
"Brain cancer is not only an area that represents a significant
unmet medical need, but is also a disease that has personally affected
our Genentech family," said Arthur D. Levinson, Ph.D., Genentech
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "We are pleased to combine
Genentech's leading cancer researchers with ABC2's commitment to finding
new treatments for this under-researched disease."
Daniel H. Case, former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Hambrecht
and Quist, was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2001. Other victims
of this disease include Robert Swanson, co-founder and former Chairman
and Chief Executive Officer of Genentech, who died in December 1999.
According to Dan Case, "Our family started Accelerate Brain Cancer
Cure to help the thousands of families afflicted by this difficult
disease. Our early partners and volunteers have been extraordinarily
dedicated and the Genentech agreement is meaningful to us all. Through
teamwork, collaboration and an entrepreneurial process, we hope to
make real strides in bringing new therapies to patients of brain cancer
as we work toward a cure."
About Brain Cancer
Each year more than 17,000 people in the United States find out they
have a primary brain tumor of which more than half are extremely aggressive.
Because brain cancer often strikes individuals at a relatively young
age, brain cancer now ranks #7 for adults and #1 for children in terms
of years of life lost. New and effective treatments are greatly needed
as one half of the primary brain tumor patients affected die within
12 months and few survive five years. Existing pharmalogical treatments
are largely ineffective in this disease.
About ABC2
ABC2 was founded in May 2001 by Dan Case, former CEO
and Chairman of Hambrecht and Quist; his brother Steve Case, Chairman
of AOL/Time Warner; their families; and a group of leading scientists
and entrepreneurs, after Dan was diagnosed with brain cancer in
2001. ABC2's mission is to accelerate a cure for brain
cancer by increasing the number of potential therapies discovered
and then rapidly moving them into the clinic to help patients. In
order to accelerate progress in what has been an underserved field
of research, ABC2 has pioneered a series of unique systems
designed to provide researchers from all backgrounds with the support
they need to make critical breakthroughs in brain cancer research.
ABC2 intends to call attention to brain cancer research
and help mobilize research with critical scientific significance
through research grants, partnerships and collaborations.
About Genentech
Genentech, Inc., is a leading biotechnology company that discovers,
develops, manufactures and markets human pharmaceuticals for significant
unmet medical needs. Fifteen of the currently approved products of
biotechnology are based on or stem from Genentech science. Genentech
markets ten products directly in the United States. The company has
headquarters in South San Francisco, California and is traded on the
New York Stock Exchange under the symbol DNA.
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