GAITHERSBURG, Md., Oct. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Panacos Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a subsidiary of Boston Biomedica, Inc. (Nasdaq: BBII) announced today that it has been awarded a Phase I Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant for $97,500 to further support its HIV vaccine discovery and development program. Panacos's Vaccine Platform represents a novel and proprietary approach to the generation of prophylactic or therapeutic vaccines targeting HIV and other viruses. Panacos scientists are focusing on regions of the gp41 envelope glycoprotein of HIV-1 that appear only transiently during the infection process. "It has long been apparent that new approaches are required in order to develop an effective vaccine against HIV infection. Our approach involves generating a neutralizing antibody response to peptides and recombinant proteins that represent gp41 fusion-active structures, thereby blocking initial entry of virus into cells," said Dr. Carl Wild, Panacos's Vice President for Research and Development and Principal Investigator on the grant. "This new funding will allow Panacos to accelerate its discovery and development of potential vaccine candidates."
Recent studies by Panacos scientists and other researchers have added support to the idea that immunogens based on structures generated transiently during HIV fusion may be key to generating an HIV vaccine that is broadly protective against many viral variants. Dr. Graham Allaway, Panacos's CEO commented, "Panacos is committed to moving its vaccine program forward because we see the opportunity to meet a major medical need. We intend to establish collaborations with other companies and research institutions to bring more resources to bear on this very important effort."
"Panacos was formed by BBI with the goal of maximizing value for BBI shareholders by expediting the development of pharmaceutical programs that have been funded for several years internally," said Richard T. Schumacher, Founder and CEO of Boston Biomedica. "This SBIR is one of several steps we have undertaken to fund this important work through grants and strategic alliances."
In addition to the Virus Vaccine Platform described above, Panacos has two pharmaceutical discovery and development platforms. The Company has identified several potent anti-HIV drug candidates through its Natural Products Platform, a collaboration with Professor K. H. Lee, Kenan Professor of Medicinal Chemistry and Director of the Natural Products Laboratory at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Panacos's Viral Fusion Inhibitor Platform is aimed at identifying novel therapeutics for a variety of medically important viral diseases by targeting the first step in virus infection, fusion to a human cell.
Panacos's scientists highlighted recent progress last month in two presentations. The development of Panacos's lead HIV drug candidate, PA-344, was discussed at the 40th Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (Toronto, Canada,) and new work in the Company's Fusion Inhibitor Platform was described at the 2000 International Meeting of the Institute of Human Virology (Baltimore, MD).
Panacos is currently in discussions with venture investors and others to raise the large amount of capital required to support the development of its lead drug candidates and other programs, with the goal of becoming an independent private company later this year. After completion of this financing, BBI intends to maintain a significant but less than 50% ownership interest in Panacos.
Boston Biomedica, Inc. provides products and services for the detection and treatment of infectious diseases such as AIDS, Lyme Disease, and Viral Hepatitis. The Company has four business units: (1) BBI Diagnostics, an ISO 9001 certified manufacturer and supplier of quality control and diagnostics reagents used to increase the accuracy of in vitro diagnostic tests, (2) BBI Clinical Laboratories, a leading specialty infectious diseases testing laboratory, (3) BBI Biotech Research Laboratories, providing R&D support for the other BBI business units as well as contract research services for third parties, and (4) BBI Source Scientific, an ISO 9001 certified manufacturer of laboratory and diagnostic instrumentation. In addition, the Company is pursuing research and development programs in the areas of Pressure Cycling Technology (PCT) and drug discovery through its subsidiaries BBI BioSeq and Panacos Pharmaceuticals, respectively, with the goal of introducing new solutions for the detection, management and treatment of infectious diseases.
Statements contained in this news release that state the Company's or management's intentions, hopes, beliefs, expectations or predictions of the future are "forward-looking" statements. It is important to note that Panacos's actual results could differ materially from those projected in such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ from those projected include the possibility that due to unforeseen technical and other difficulties Panacos may not be successful in establishing collaborations with other companies and may not be able to develop its current technology into commercially successful products, Boston Biomedica may not be able to successfully raise the capital required for the development of Panacos's product lines and may not be able to establish Panacos as an independent company or such establishment may take longer than currently expected. Additional information concerning factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements is contained from time to time in Boston Biomedica's SEC filings, including but not limited to Boston Biomedica's report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 1999 and on Form 10-Q for the periods ended March 31 and June 30, 2000. Copies of these documents may be obtained by contacting Boston Biomedica or the SEC.
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Contacts:
Boston Biomedica, Inc.
Richard T. Schumacher, CEO
William R. Prather, M.D., Sr. VP
(508) 580-1900 (T)
(508) 580-1110 (F)
Panacos Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Graham P. Allaway, Ph.D.,
President & CEO
(240) 631-1395 (T)
(301) 208-8829 (F)
SOURCE Boston Biomedica, Inc.
Web site: http: //www.bbii.com
CONTACT: Richard T. Schumacher, CEO, or William R. Prather, M.D., Sr. VP, both of Boston Biomedica, Inc., 508-580-1900; or Graham P. Allaway, Ph.D., President & CEO of Panacos Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 240-631-1395