Grant Life Sciences ('Grant') enters into a Memorandum of Understanding with Diagnostic Technologies Ltd. ('DTL') to develop and commercialize Grant's cervical cancer-diagnostic technology
Wednesday April 12, 9:35 am ET
LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 12, 2006--Grant Life Sciences Inc.
The proposed deal would include upfront payment of $250,000 to Grant, plus ongoing royalties upon commercialization of the resulting product; also, DTL will conduct and fund all development costs, including clinical trials, associated with the commercialization of the products developed from Grant's cervical cancer diagnostic technology
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Grant Life Sciences Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: GLIF - News) announced today that it has entered into a Memo of Understanding (MOU) with Israel-based Diagnostic Technologies Ltd. (DTL) related to Grant's cervical cancer-diagnostic technology (U.S. Patent No. 6,743,593). Under the MOU, Grant will receive an upfront licensing fee of $250,000. In addition, the MOU calls for DTL to conduct all development at its own cost, including clinical trials, associated with the commercialization of the products developed from Grant's cervical cancer-diagnostic technology. Upon commercialization, DTL will pay Grant an ongoing royalty on sales of the products developed, according to the MOU.
A definitive licensing agreement will be signed following appropriate due diligence and a feasibility test. Upon signing, DTL will immediately assume all of the costs associated with turning Grant's core technology related to cervical-cancer diagnostics into a commercially viable product. The diagnostic product based on Grant's technology will augment and complement DTL's suite of diagnostics aimed at the women's health market. Stan Yakatan, Grant's Chairman, together with DTL's Chairman, were instrumental in structuring this MOU, recognizing the considerable synergy of the relationship between the companies.
"This event, once consummated, will represent a most important milestone in the evolution of our company," said Hun-Chi Lin, Ph.D., Grant's President and Chief Scientist. "To date, we have been hampered in our development of our cervical cancer-technology because of capital constraints. The large costs of development, as well as the considerable expenses associated with being a publicly traded company, have hampered our ability to expedite final development of our core technology. This affiliation with DTL will help us accomplish many of our goals and more readily assure success and hoped-for shareholder value appreciation."
"We are happy with the opportunity to extend our current knowledge in developing diagnostic tools and means in the field of women's health to the field of cervical cancer and to fast-forward development and commercialization of a diagnostic product based on Grant's cervical cancer diagnosis technology," said Hamutal Meiri, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of DTL. "We hope that their technology will enable the detection of the presence of antibodies produced only by cancer-causing HPV-types and profile them." According to the National Cancer Institute there are some 100 types of HPV. However, only about 7 to 15 of these appear to cause cervical cancer, with certain HPV-types especially virulent in this regard. Cancer-causing HPV-types express certain unique proteins that help trigger the disease. The parties to the MOU believe that the product developed using Grant's technology can distinguish these cancer-causing proteins from those made by non-cancer-causing HPV-types. DTL therefore expects that using Grant's technology will enable it to determine whether a woman has cervical cancer or pre-cervical cancer conditions.
"Upon consummation of this partnership with DTL, Grant will have the 'luxury' of being able to focus its efforts on boosting revenues from sales in Asia of its rapid AccuDx tests for Malaria and Dengue Fever," added Stan Yakatan, Chairman of Grant. "These products, along with its rapid AccuDx tests for HIV-1 and HIV-2, represent an impressive product portfolio, and Grant will be able to look to drive new-business development for Grant Life Sciences in Asia. In addition, the market for cervical cancer testing is enormous, and DTL intends to carry a focused and controlled development of this innovative non-invasive, protein-based diagnostic test."
According to the American Cancer Society, the human papillomavirus (HPV) causes virtually all cervical cancer. Through its proprietary protein-based technology, the assay under development is intended to look at HPV in a fashion that identifies cervical cancer, its precursors or the likelihood of its presence. This immunotest includes antibodies especially associated with HPV-caused neoplasias or cancers that are detected with synthetic, proprietary peptides or amino acid sequences derived from certain proteins in the human papillomavirus.
About Diagnostic Technologies Ltd. (DTL)
DTL, based in Yokneam Illit, Israel, is a private company that has licensed from Technion a technology for using a highly sensitive immunoassay for the prediction of the risk to preeclampsia based on the quantitative determination of placental protein 13 (PP13) in maternal serum for prediction pregnancy disorders. The current test is aimed for the prediction of the risk for preeclampsia. According to the CDC, preeclampsia affects five to seven percent of all pregnant women and represents a serious challenge for obstetricians and prenatal and diagnostic laboratories. This threatening disorder can result in: loss of life; blindness; motor and mental disorders or premature newborns; pregnancy hypertension; and kidney, liver & cardiovascular malfunctioning. It is estimated that nearly $30 billion is spent today in healthcare costs to treat women with preeclampsia and their newborns. The company's in vitro ELISA-based test utilizes a simple blood test for the early prediction of preeclampsia, and it is now in clinical trials. TEUZA, an Israeli venture fund, is the major investor in the Company. On Jan. 31, 2006, PerkinElmer, Inc. (NYSE: PKI - News), a world leader in Health Sciences and Photonics, announced that it has secured the exclusive global rights to PP13 for identifying patients at risk for preeclampsia developed by DTL.
About Grant Life Sciences Inc.
Grant Life Sciences Inc. develops products to improve the efficiency of detecting and diagnosing cervical cancer, including a sensitive, reliable, non-invasive, point-of-care test. The diagnostic assay being developed by the Company has shown promise in detecting cervical cancer and its precursors, a disease that kills in excess of 300,000 women annually. According to the CDC there are currently more than 120 million cervical screening tests administered annually in the U.S. and Europe. In developed nations more than 120 million eligible women, 20 years old and above, still do not get Pap smears, and globally more than 1.7 billion over the age of 20 have never been checked due to cultural, religious or economic reasons. Further information is available at: www.grantlifesciences.com.
Forward-Looking Safe Harbor Statement
With the exception of historical information, the matters discussed in this press release are "forward-looking statements" that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. The actual future results of Grant Life Sciences could differ significantly from those statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include risks and uncertainties such as the inability to finance the company's operations or expansion, inability to hire and retain qualified personnel, changes in the general economic climate, including rising interest rates and unanticipated events such as terrorist activities, results of clinical trials, and market acceptance of the Company's products. In some cases, "forward-looking statements" can be identified by terminology such as "may," "will," "should," "expect," "plan," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "predict," "potential" or "continue," or other comparable terminology. Although Grant Life Sciences believes that the expectations reflected in the "forward-looking" statements are reasonable, such statements should not be regarded as a representation by the Company, or any other person, that such "forward-looking statements" will be achieved. Grant Life Sciences undertakes no duty to update any of the "forward-looking statements," whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. In light of the foregoing, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such "forward-looking statements." For further risk factors associated with our Company, review our SEC filings.
