ABC.L Regulatory News (ABC)

13 Dec 2006 07:01

ABCAM Plc13 December 2006 For immediate release 13 December 2006 ABCAM PLC ("Abcam" or "the Company") Agreement for Sole Distribution Rights of New Product Line Abcam plc (AIM: ABC), the rapidly growing company that markets antibodies via anonline catalogue, is pleased to announce that it has entered into an agreementfor the sole distribution rights of a product line of 46 immunology researchantibodies from Fusion Antibodies Ltd ("Fusion"). The antibodies acquired from Fusion complement Abcam's existing core focus onimmunology and allow the Company to expand its catalogue into areas such asassay testing kits. The agreement consists of a purchase of existing inventoryof the antibodies and the rights for Abcam to convert this agreement from soledistribution into exclusive distribution for a small fee per antibody over thenext 7 years. Fusion provides recombinant protein engineering services to the bioscienceindustry and has used its protein skills to generate a wide range of catalogueantibodies for use in research laboratories. Their leading-edge technologyplatform FET(TM) (Fusion Expression Technology) accelerates the validation oftargets from DNA sequence through to recombinant protein expression finallygenerating target specific antibodies. This agreement allows for the productline to be made available world-wide through the Abcam sales network. Commenting on the announcement, Jonathan Milner, Abcam's Chief ExecutiveOfficer, said: "This is a small but important deal for Abcam. As promised atthe time of our IPO, we said that some of the money raised would be used to buyproducts with exclusivity and increase our product range within the catalogue.This type of product acquisition enables us to take advantage of high marginproducts and we consider this transaction to complement our recently announcedplans to increase our own production with a high throughput laboratory." Simon Douglas, CEO of Fusion, added: "This deal with Abcam gives us the best ofboth worlds. It allows our range of antibodies to be available to researchersglobally through a leading supplier while leaving us to concentrate on thedevelopment and commercialisation of antibody-based therapeutics in the fieldsof oncology and angiogenesis where we have a number entering the pre-clinicalstage of development." For further information please contact: Abcam plc + 44 (0) 1223 696000 Jonathan Milner, Chief Executive Officer Eddie Powell, Chief Financial Officer www.abcam.com Buchanan Communications + 44 (0) 20 7466 5000 Mark Court, Mary-Jane Johnson Media relations for Fusion Antibodies: At Fusion Antibodies: Northbank Communications Dr Simon Douglas Sue Charles, CEO t : +44 (0) 2890 998510 Dr Christelle Kerouedan, Account Manager e: simon.douglas@fusionantibodies.com Tony Stephenson, Media Relations Eva Levin, Account Executive t : +44 (0) 20 3008 7550 e: fusion@northbankcommunications.com Notes for editors About Abcam plc Abcam is a producer and distributor of research-grade antibodies headquarteredin Cambridge, UK, with a US office located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Abcamwas admitted to AIM in November 2005 and trades under the ticker symbol ABC.The Company produces and distributes its own and third party produced antibodiesto academic and commercial users throughout the world with product informationprovided and ordering available through the Company's website, www.Abcam.com.The antibodies are sold almost entirely under the Abcam brand name. TheCompany's vision is to build the largest online antibody resource in the worldwhile also ensuring that the antibodies are of high quality and commerciallyviable. Abcam now has an online catalogue of 25,000 products, most of which areantibodies, from over 200 suppliers supported by up-to-date and detailedtechnical data sheets, which are created by the Company. The Company currentlyemploys 100 staff. About Fusion Antibodies Ltd Fusion Antibodies specializes in the rapid expression & purification ofrecombinant proteins and chimeric antibodies for the research, diagnostic andtherapeutic markets. They offer a service based on their award winning highthrough-put FET(TM) (Fusion Expression Technology) platform. Broad experienceand expertise has resulted in making over 500 of these proteins for a globalcustomer base. Their prime area of activity is in the area of antibody therapeutics where theirresearch and development focus is the identification of over expressed proteinsas targets in Oncology and Angiogenesis. Based on a combination therapy approacha pipeline of lead targets has been identified and the leading ones taken to preclinical stage. The company was founded in 2001 and was spun out of Queens University, Belfast,and having gained several awards is rapidly becoming one of Northern Irelandsleading new companies in the BioPharma arena. Fusion Antibodies Ltd is a therapeutic research and discovery company offeringcontract research organisation services to the bio-science industry. Fusion hasexpertise in producing specific antibodies for therapeutic, diagnostic andtheranostic applications. About antibodies Antibodies are proteins produced by white blood cells in response to theintroduction of a foreign body known as an antigen. Antibodies, which have awide variety of uses in research, diagnostics and therapeutics, are used bybioscientists in research into disease and into the human genome, where they areused to mark and identify specific cells and other living matter. The number ofhuman antibodies of use in research is potentially greater than one million. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange