Hybrigenics Acquires Semaia

Merged companies will leverage proprietary tools to identify and validate oncology targets and develop drug candidates

Paris, France, and Utrecht, The Netherlands - Hybrigenics SA, the pathway-based drug discovery company, announced yesterday the acquisition of 100 percent of the shares of Dutch company Semaia BV, which specializes in the exploration of new drug targets in oncology. As a result of the all-share transaction, Hybrigenics gains access to new targets for cancer therapeutic research and advanced know-how in several areas of oncology. Additional financial terms were not disclosed.
By combining its functional proteomics technology and cancer expertise with Semaia's oncology target candidates, Hybrigenics expects to accelerate the discovery of compounds to treat colorectal and other cancers. Together with its oncology drug discovery activities, the company will continue to carry out discovery programs in viral diseases, including AIDS and Hepatitis C.,Hybrigenics sees considerable complementarity with Semaia's areas of expertise. Hybrigenics' proprietary high throughput functional proteomics technology will help prioritize Semaia's candidate targets and accelerate drug discovery. The combined companies' technologies will accelerate validation of the chosen targets. Using its protein interaction mapping technology, Hybrigenics will also identify additional proteins that interact with Semaia's proprietary targets. Both Hybrigenics' and Semaia's small molecule screening platforms are expected to accelerate the identification of promising lead compounds to be further developed as potential drug candidates.
The acquisition will reinforce the international collaborations of Hybrigenics with leading research institutes and will build on Semaia's position as a science-based company specializing in the discovery of drugs that act on signal transduction in cancer. With the help of its co-founders, Professors Hans Bos and Hans Clevers from the University of Utrecht, Semaia has already discovered a number of novel proprietary therapeutic targets in colorectal cancer (Wnt pathway) as well as in other cancers (Ras-Raf and PKB/AKT pathways). These targets, which include both enzymes and cell surface proteins, will be further explored to develop therapeutic antibodies and small molecule therapeutic compounds.
Rian De Jonge, Semaia's Chief Executive Officer, and former Research Vice President of Solvay, will become Executive Vice President of Research and Development of Hybrigenics, which will remain based in Paris, France. Semaia's cofounders Hans Bos and Hans Clevers will join Hybrigenics' Scientific Advisory Board., ,"The application of Hybrigenics' high throughput functional proteomics technologies to Semaia's colon cancer targets should considerably increase our chances of success in developing therapeutics against that disease," said Prof. Donny Strosberg, Hybrigenics' President and Chief Executive Officer. "Through the synergy in our two areas of expertise, the merger will create a company with added critical mass and an international reach to major research institutes."
"We see this merger with Hybrigenics as a great opportunity for the combined company to become a world leader in pathway-based oncology drug discovery," said Rian De Jonge, Semaia's Chief Executive Officer. "We are looking forward to this exciting challenge."
CONTACT:,Hybrigenics S.A. ,Dominique Granger ,E-mail: [e-mail]
,Andrew Lloyd & Associates Ltd,Andrew Lloyd/Keren Perrott ,Tel: [phone],E-mail: [e-mail], e-mail: [e-mail],About Semaia,Semaia BV (http://www.semaia.com) Utrecht, The Netherlands, was co-founded by Professors Hans Bos and Hans Clevers. As a pioneer in the field of signal transduction, the company specializes in the discovery and development of low molecular weight active substances that regulate defective intracellular signal transduction. These processes play a central role in the pathogenesis and growth of cancer. The company has drug research discovery programs in colorectal cancer, and signal transduction in oncogenic processes. The company has developed a proprietary technology platform to explore new drug targets in oncology and established collaborations with major Dutch cancer research laboratories at Utrecht University.
About Hybrigenics,Hybrigenics (http://www.hybrigenics.com) Paris, France, is a pathway-based drug discovery company that identifies and validates new drug targets and therapeutic molecules via high throughput protein interaction mapping, a cutting-edge bioinformatics platform, cellular functional analysis, and proprietary small molecule screening technologies. As a key player of the post-genomic era, the company analyzes specific biological complexes and networks of interacting proteins (so called "pathways"), from which it selects novel target proteins, which are then used to identify small molecule drug candidates. Because most drugs act on proteins or are proteins themselves, Hybrigenics' approach shortens the path between genomics and drug development.
The company has internal drug discovery programs in the area of Cancer and in Infectious Diseases and strategic alliances in these fields with the Curie Institute, the Pasteur Institute, the French AIDS Agency (ANRS), and INSERM. The company has formed alliances in these areas and for the treatment of metabolic and CNS diseases with industrial partners including Incyte Corp., Lynx Therapeutics Inc., Merck Sharp & Dohme Ltd., Oxford Glycosciences, Servier and XTL Biopharmaceuticals Ltd.,

Paesi

France, Netherlands