Curis Press Releases Hair Growth (hedgehog agonist)

**Curis helping to treat cancer, neurological degenerative, kidney disorders, CUDC-101. Pathways, hedgehog, EGFR, Her2, Hsp90, Bcr-Abl/Src, CDK, BCL, MEK, VEGF, HDAC.**

Reply to topic
Curis Press Releases Hair Growth (hedgehog agonist)
hedgehog
Site Admin

Joined: 19 Jan 2006
Posts: 820
Location: Bay Area
Reply with quote
Curis and Procter & Gamble Enter into R&D Agreement for Hair Growth Program
Mon September 19 2005

Cambridge, MA, September 19, 2005 — Curis, Inc. (NASDAQ: CRIS), a therapeutic drug development company, today announced that the Company has entered into an exclusive worldwide research and development agreement with Procter & Gamble Pharmaceuticals, a division of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE: PG), to evaluate and develop potential treatments for hair growth regulation utilizing Curis' Hedgehog agonist technology. Future efforts may be expanded to address other skin disorders. To date, Curis scientists have demonstrated that small molecule Hedgehog agonists can induce hair growth in pre-clinical models.

Under the terms of the agreement, the Company has granted P&G an exclusive, worldwide royalty-bearing license for the non-systemic, dermatological use of Curis' Hedgehog agonist technology, via topical administration. Curis will have an option to co-develop a development candidate through Phase II clinical trials. Curis will retain rights to veterinary applications of the technology. P&G has a first option to negotiate a collaboration for veterinary indications in the field of dermatology. Curis continues to retain rights to certain non-systemic applications of the Hedgehog agonist technology, specifically for local cardiovascular and ex vivo use.

"Procter & Gamble's expertise in pharmaceutical development, combined with their solid track record in creating market-leading hair and skin care products, makes them an excellent choice as a partner for our hair program," said Daniel R. Passeri, President and Chief Executive Officer of Curis, Inc. "This is the second collaboration agreement structured to provide Curis possible co-development opportunities. Collaborating with major pharmaceutical companies to execute clinical programs is one way to build Curis' internal development capabilities to re-apply to our in-house programs."

P&G has agreed to pay Curis a $0.5 million initial payment and up to $2.8 million in preclinical milestones, contingent upon achievement of certain preclinical goals. P&G has agreed to make cash payments to Curis assuming successful completion of certain clinical development and drug approval milestones. If a development candidate derived from the collaboration is successfully commercialized, P&G has agreed to pay a royalty on net product sales. At the time of filing an Investigational New Drug Application (IND) with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Curis will have the option to co-develop a product candidate through Phases 1 and 2 of clinical development. If Curis exercises its co-development option it will be entitled to a higher royalty percentage on net product sales of any successfully co-developed products although Curis would forgo two early clinical milestone payments from P&G. Assuming that the collaboration continues for its full term, with at least one product commercialized by P&G worldwide in two indications and developed directly by P&G on a global basis, Curis could receive more than $100 million in milestone payments. Such milestones would be payable whether Curis elected to co-develop a candidate or not.

Curis' Hedgehog agonist program was exclusively licensed to Wyeth Pharmaceuticals in January of 2004. Under the terms of the license agreement, Curis retained the right to develop Hedgehog agonists for topical treatment to stimulate hair growth. The license agreement was subsequently amended to broaden Curis' development rights to include topical applications to treat or prevent skin diseases or disorders and Wyeth has approved a group of Hedgehog agonist compounds for use in Curis' retained programs.

Curis scientists have demonstrated that small molecule Hedgehog agonists can induce hair growth in pre-clinical models. These results were presented in February of 2005 at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology. In this study, a small molecule Hedgehog agonist, when topically formulated and applied to the skin, triggers the transition of hair follicles from the resting to the growth phase of the hair cycle. The authors of the study conclude that the topical application of a Hedgehog agonist may be effective in treating hair disorders, such as male pattern baldness and female pattern hair loss. In the United States alone, approximately 80 million men and women suffer from hair loss.

"We believe that this collaboration with P&G provides additional validation of Curis' proprietary expertise in the field of signaling pathways," said Passeri.

About Curis, Inc.
Curis, Inc. is a therapeutic drug development company. The Company's technology focus is on regulatory pathways that control repair and regeneration. Curis� product development involves the use of proteins or small molecules to modulate these pathways. Curis has successfully used this technology and product development approach to produce several promising drug product candidates in the fields of cancer (under collaboration with Genentech, which also includes a co-development arrangement for a basal cell carcinoma product candidate), kidney disease (licensed to Ortho Biotech Products and under development at Centocor, both subsidiaries of Johnson & Johnson), neurological disorders (under collaboration with Wyeth), hair growth (under collaboration with P&G), and cardiovascular disease. For more information, please visit the Curis web site at www.curis.com.

Cautionary Statement: This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements concerning Curis' expectations regarding potential payments under its research and development agreement with P&G. These forward-looking statements may contain the words "believes", "expects", "anticipates", "plans", "seeks", "estimates" or similar expressions. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that may cause Curis' actual results to be materially different from those indicated by such forward-looking statements including, among other things: adverse results in Curis' and its strategic collaborators' and licensees' product development programs; difficulties or delays in obtaining or maintaining required regulatory approvals; Curis' ability to obtain or maintain the patent and other proprietary intellectual property protection necessary for the development and commercialization of products based on its technologies; the risk that Curis does not obtain the additional funding required to conduct research and development of its product candidates, fund its co-development obligations under its collaboration with Genentech and execute its business plan; unplanned cash requirements; risks relating to Curis' ability to enter into and maintain its strategic collaborations, including its collaborations with Genentech, Ortho Biotech Products, Wyeth and P&G; competitive risks; and the risk factors identified in Curis' most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and other reports periodically filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Any forward-looking statements represent the Company's views only as of today and should not be relied upon as representing its views as of any subsequent date. Curis disclaims any intention or obligation to update any of the forward-looking statements after the date of this press release whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.


Last edited by hedgehog on Tue Mar 21, 2006 7:51 am; edited 1 time in total

_________________
Your complete guide for Hedgehog, BMP-7, and Curis information
~Enjoy your stay with us
View user's profileSend private messageSend e-mailMSN Messenger
Curis Reaches First Preclinical Milestone in Hair Growth Pro
hedgehog
Site Admin

Joined: 19 Jan 2006
Posts: 820
Location: Bay Area
Reply with quote
Curis Reaches First Preclinical Milestone in Hair Growth Program with Procter & Gamble
Tuesday March 21, 9:00 am ET

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 21, 2006--Curis, Inc. (NASDAQ: CRIS - News), a therapeutic drug development company, today announced that it has reached the first preclinical milestone in a hair growth program with Procter & Gamble Pharmaceuticals, a division of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE: PG - News). The program is focused upon the potential development of a topical Hedgehog agonist for hair growth disorders, such as male pattern baldness and female pattern hair loss. As part of the initial agreement signed in September of 2005, P&G agreed to pay Curis up to $2.8 million in preclinical milestones. The first of two preclinical milestones has now been successfully completed.

ADVERTISEMENT
"This first preclinical milestone represents the successful completion of several initial steps toward our goal of bringing a topical Hedgehog agonist into the clinic for the treatment of hair growth disorders," said Daniel R. Passeri, President and Chief Executive Officer of Curis, Inc. "We are pleased by the progress that the joint research team has made, particularly since our collaboration with Procter & Gamble began only five months ago. We are hopeful that this will be the first of several development achievements that will allow Curis and Procter & Gamble to advance a Hedgehog agonist into clinical development and ultimately succeed in providing an effective treatment for hair growth disorders. Under our collaboration with P&G, Curis has retained an option to co-develop this product from IND filing through Phase II trials. We believe that this co-development structure provides an opportunity for Curis to create additional value for our shareholders."

About the Procter & Gamble Curis Collaboration

In September 2005, Curis and Procter & Gamble entered into a research and development agreement to evaluate and develop potential treatments for hair growth disorders utilizing Curis' Hedgehog agonist technology. Future efforts may be expanded to address other skin disorders.

Under the terms of the agreement, Curis has granted P&G an exclusive, worldwide royalty-bearing license for the non-systemic, dermatological use of Curis' Hedgehog agonist technology, via topical administration. Curis will have an option to co-develop a development candidate through Phase II clinical trials, should an investigational new drug application be filed with the FDA. Curis has retained rights to certain non-systemic applications of the Hedgehog agonist technology, specifically for local cardiovascular and ex vivo use. Curis has also retained rights to veterinary applications of the technology, to which P&G has the first option to negotiate a commercial arrangement.

_________________
Your complete guide for Hedgehog, BMP-7, and Curis information
~Enjoy your stay with us
View user's profileSend private messageSend e-mailMSN Messenger
Curis Press Releases Hair Growth (hedgehog agonist)
All times are GMT - 7 Hours  
Page 1 of 1  

  
  
 Reply to topic  
Forum Map
Site Map