Orexo Pharmaceuticals acquires CePeP

Orexo Pharmaceuticals acquires CePeP - Orexo AB acquires CePeP AB in a share for share transaction - Through this deal Orexo will get access to a unique technology platform that enables a continued expansion of the company. Orexo AB, Uppsala acquires CePeP AB, Stockholm to further strengthen Orexo´s position as a pharmaceutical company that with short development times brings new patented products to the market. CePeP is a newly founded company based on the research from professor Ulo Langel and his group at the Department of Neurochemistry, Stockholm University. The company's proprietary technology platform is based on the concept of cell penetrating peptides (CPP). The technology opens the possibility for significantly improving a large number of existing pharmaceutical products as well as offering a novel approach in drug discovery. The integrity of the cell membrane is of vital importance for the survival of the cell. A selective cell membrane makes it very difficult to deliver drugs that are not "approved" by the membrane. The CePeP technology is based on designing small peptides that penetrate the cell membrane or act as "carriers" of other molecules that normally would not be able to penetrate the cell membrane. "The ambition of Orexo is to utilize the CePeP technology for the development of new, improved pharmaceuticals. There is a strong strategic fit with the company's concept of fast development of clinically improved pharmaceuticals based on innovative drug delivery. This acquisition is instrumental in our continued expansion", said Björn Forsman, CEO Orexo AB. "There is also a great potential for cell penetrating peptides in drug discovery in general since many future therapeutic agents will exercise its action from within the cell, for example in the area of gene therapy." "We believe that the CPP technology will quickly become established with Orexo's drug development concept and that we now give this technology the best possible conditions for the future," said Carl-Johan Dalsgaard, CEO CePeP AB. For more information, please contact Björn Forsman, CEO Orexo AB +46 (0)18 780 88 00, +46(0)70 531 88 28, e-mail: bjorn.forsman@orexo.se CePeP AB was founded in November 2001 and has developed a proprietary technology based on the concept of cell penetrating peptides (CPP). The scientific founders behind CePeP are Professor Ulo Langel and Professor Mattias Hällbrink at the Department for Neurochemistry, Stockholm University, and Professor Claes-Göran Östensson at Karolinska Institutet. Orexo AB (publ) is a Swedish pharmaceutical company established in 1995 based in Uppsala. Orexo develops, documents and registers patented pharmaceutical products based on innovative and proprietary drug formulations. This is carried out through in-house development, licensing or co-development with partners. Orexo currently pursues a number of pharmaceutical projects with considerable market potential, for instance within the pain control and the gastro-intestinal area. Rapinyl®, one of the products in development for the management of acute pain, is in clinical phase II. It is now being documented for cancer breakthrough pain. Rapinyl® is based on the company´s patented technical platforms with fast dissolving sublingual tablets for rapid pain relief. The Japanese marketing rights for Rapinyl® was licensed to Kyowa Hakko Kogyo Co. Ltd in January 2003. www.orexo.com ------------------------------------------------------------ This information was brought to you by Waymaker http://www.waymaker.net The following files are available for download: http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2003/08/29/20040622BIT20190/wkr0001.pdf