TED.L Regulatory News (TED)

2 Feb 2005 07:00

2 February 2005 Tepnel Life Sciences PLC - Research and Development Collaboration Tepnel Life Sciences PLC (`Tepnel') signs R&D agreement with Boehringer Ingelheim Manchester, UK. 2 February 2005¢â‚¬¦ Tepnel Life Sciences' (AIM: TED) wholly ownedsubsidiary, Diaclone Research (`Diaclone' Besanƒ§on, France) announces today thesigning of a comprehensive research collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim(Ingelheim, Germany).Under the terms of the agreement Diaclone will generate murine monoclonalantibodies that recognise human immune regulatory cells. These antibodies willbe evaluated by Boehringer Ingelheim as research tools and possible antibodytherapeutics in main indication areas. The terms of the collaboration allowTepnel to market for research and diagnostic applications those monoclonalantibodies generated by Diaclone which are not developed for therapeuticindications by Boehringer Ingelheim.Diaclone was recently acquired by Tepnel Life Sciences plc on December 14, 2004and specialises in the development of monoclonal antibodies againstimmunoregulatory cells and cellular secretion. Diaclone has developed more thantwo thousand monoclonal antibodies against immunoregulatory cells and is aleader in human cytokine research.Ben Matzilevich, Tepnel's Chief Executive Officer, commented that, "Theacquisition of Diaclone was an important component of Tepnel's strategy ofpenetrating both the research product and molecular diagnostic markets.Tepnel's long term strategy is to focus on these two key growth marketsincorporating our DNA purification and analysis capabilities to enhance andcomplement these product lines. Tepnel will continue to further expand intothese target markets with additional pharmaceutical agreements, M&A and organicgrowth"For Further Information:Tepnel Life Sciences plcBen Matzilevich, CEOGron Ffoulkes-Davies, Finance Director0161 946 2200Seymour PierceMark Percy, Corporate Finance0207 107 8000Boehringer IngelheimUte SchmidtExternal Communications+49 6132 7797296+49 6132 776601De Facto CommunicationsHelena Podd020 7940 1000Notes to EditorsAbout Tepnel Life Sciences plcTepnel is a UK-based international life sciences instrumentation and servicescompany with a `tri-polar' strategy focused on providing the biomedicalindustry with high-throughput automated DNA purification systems, manual DNApurification kits and reagents, as well as scientific services for nucleic acidpurification, drug analysis, genotyping and genetically modified foods. Tepnelwas founded in 1992 to exploit DNA technology generated at UMIST (University ofManchester Institute of Science and Technology) and is quoted on the AIMsegment of the London Stock Exchange (AIM: TED). More information on Tepnel canbe found at www.tepnel.com.About Boehringer IngelheimThe Boehringer Ingelheim group is one of the world's 20 leading pharmaceuticalcompanies. Headquartered in Ingelheim, Germany, it operates globally with 152affiliates in 45 countries and more than 34,000 employees. Since it was foundedin 1885, the family-owned company has been committed to researching,developing, manufacturing and marketing novel products of high therapeuticvalue for human and veterinary medicine. In 2003, Boehringer Ingelheim postednet sales of 7.4 billion euro while spending more than one fifth of net salesin its largest business segment, Prescription Medicines, on research anddevelopment. For more information please visit www.boehringer-ingelheim.comEND