Basel, Switzerland: 4-Antibody AG today announced a major long-term collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim to discover and to develop fully human therapeutic antibodies for a number of targets in various disease indications. 4-Antibody will use its proprietary and unencumbered Hu-PAC™ and Retrocyte Display™ technologies for the discovery and development of fully human antibodies against novel targets nominated by Boehringer Ingelheim. 4-Antibody AG will receive payments of up to EUR 177.5 million (CHF 266 million) including upfront and milestone payments from Boehringer Ingelheim upon achievement of certain clinical development milestones.

Basel, Switzerland: Today, 4-Antibody AG received the notice of allowance for its still pending U.S. patent application US2006052585(A1), which means that the US patent application has now been accepted for granting also by the US patent and trademark office (US-PTO). This notice of allowance closes the patent prosecution for the Hu-PAC™ technology also in the last major pharmaceutical market, i.e. the U.S., after the Hu-PAC™ technology has already been granted patent protection in other major pharmaceutical markets, like Europe, Japan, China, and Australia.

Basel, Switzerland: Today, 4-Antibody AG announced the publishing of its novel Retrocyte Display™ technology that had been filed in 2008 in parallel as PCT, EP and US applications. Retrocyte Display™ is a novel in vitro antibody expression and screening technology that exploits the power of stable retroviral expression of antibodies in cells of the B lymphocyte lineage with efficient in vitro screening technologies, like fluorescence or magnetic activated cell sorting (FACS or MACS). In Retrocyte Display™ full-length, fully human antibodies are expressed in its natural cellular environment, which provides the most stringent selection for properly folded, expressable and stable antibody candidates, that are most compatible with further downstream clinical development and manufacturing processes.

Basel, Switzerland: 4-Antibody AG today announced that Dr. Richard Mason has joined the company as Chief Executive Officer and Geschäftsführer. Dr. Mason joins 4-Antibody from venture capital firm Advent Venture Partners, an investor in 4-Antibody, where he has been an Executive-in-Residence.

Previously Dr. Mason was Senior Vice President Business Development at Cambridge Antibody Technology plc (CAT). As head of CAT’s business development team he was responsible for numerous transactions with major pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies including leading the negotiation of the original antibody co-discovery and co-development agreement with AstraZeneca which subsequently led to AstraZeneca’s acquisition of CAT for $1.3 billion.

Dr. Mason qualified in medicine from the Medical College of St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, University of London. He trained in internal medicine and is a member of the Royal College of Physicians. He also holds a BSc degree in Immunology from University College London and an MBA from the Judge Business School, University of Cambridge.

"We are delighted to appoint Richard as our CEO to lead 4-Antibody through the next exciting phase of its growth. His organisational leadership skills and experience in commercial deal-making in the antibody space will be instrumental as we establish our technology as a new gold-standard for the discovery of fully human monoclonal antibody therapeutics" stated Prof. Dr. Max Burger, Chairman of 4-Antibody’s Board.

Commenting on his appointment, Dr. Mason said, "I am very pleased to be joining this young and dynamic company with its world-class team of immunologists and molecular biologists. 4-Antibody has the most exciting and unencumbered platform for generating therapeutic antibodies in the industry today."

Basel, Switzerland: 4-Antibody AG, today announced that Prof. Donald Drakeman, Venture Partner at Advent Ventures has joined the 4-Antibody Board.

Don is an entrepreneur and highly experienced executive who, prior to joining Advent Venture Partners in 2007, co-founded two leading monoclonal antibody companies, Medarex, Inc., and Genmab A/S. Under his leadership as CEO of Medarex, the company raised over a billion dollars, formed alliances with many pharmaceutical companies, developed numerous therapeutic products, and spun-off Genmab, which subsequently completed Europe’s largest biotech IPO to date. During his 22 years in the industry, he has overseen the progress of numerous innovative new antibody therapeutics for cancer, infectious disease and inflammation from research concept to clinical trials.

“We are very excited to be able to tap into Don’s deep experience in antibody development and deal-making. Don joining our Board at this critical point in the Company’s lifecycle gives us a unique opportunity to accelerate the Company’s development towards becoming a new gold standard for the discovery of fully human monoclonal antibodies,” stated Prof. Dr. Max Burger, Chairman of 4-Antibody’s Board.

Commenting on his appointment, Don Drakeman said, “I am very pleased to join 4-Antibody’s Board, as 4-Antibody is a tremendously exciting company which I believe will play a leading role in the discovery and development of antibody therapeutics of the future.”

Basel, Switzerland: Advent Venture Partners, Life Science Partners (LSP) and BioMedinvest today announced the completion of a CHF 17 Million Series A financing of 4-Antibody AG. This closing was led by new investor Advent Venture Partners (UK), together with existing lead investors Life Sciences Partners (LSP, The Netherlands) and BioMedinvest AG (Switzerland). All other existing investors; Grazia Equity (Germany), Mulligan Biocapital (Germany) and several private investors also participated.

4-Antibody AG is focused on exploiting its 4mAb™ proprietary platform to improve existing antibodies and to discover de novo fully human antibodies. Proceeds will be used to accelerate the discovery and development of novel therapeutic monoclonal antibodies.

Basel, Switzerland: 4-Antibody, a Basel-based biotechnology company focused on exploiting its proprietary platform to develop de novo and improved fully human antibodies, today announced the closing of a CHF 6 million Series A financing and the appointment of Sijmen de Vries MD, MBA as its new CEO.

The Series A financing was provided by a consortium of existing investors including Biomedinvest AG (CH), Grazia Equity (D), Life Science Partners (NL) and Mulligan Biocapital (D). Proceeds will be used to develop internal pipeline projects initially to pre-clinical proof of concept and establish licensing partnerships with biotech and pharma partners.

Sijmen de Vries joins 4-Antibody from Morphochem AG (Munich, Germany), where he was CEO and, after successfully re-focusing the business on antibiotic development and steering its lead hospital antibiotic through pre-clinical development, he merged 4-Antibody with Biovertis AG. Previous to that, he held various senior management positions at Novartis Pharma AG and SmithKline Beecham. Dr de Vries succeeds Dr Ulf Grawunder, who as co-founder of 4-Antibody successfully led 4-Antibody through its initial growth phases and continues to serve 4-Antibody as its CSO.

4-Antibody has concluded the formal constitution of its Scientific Advisory Board (SAB), including four internationally renowned experts in the fields of Molecular and Cellular Immunology. The members of the SAB include, in alphabetical order: Prof. Frederick W. Alt, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, MA, Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) investigator, Prof. Max Cooper, University of Alabama, Birmingham, AL, also HHMI investigator, Prof. Hidde Ploegh, Massachusetts Institute for Technology (M.I.T.), Cambridge, MA, and Prof. Antonius Rolink, Head of the Division of Molecular Immunology at the Department of Clinical and Biological Sciences (DKBW), University of Basel, and holder of a Rocheendowed chair for Immunology. Prof. Hidde Ploegh has been elected Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board.

Ulf Grawunder, CEO of 4-Antibody, comments “We are particularly pleased that we were able to attract such a distinguished group of internationally renowned experts in the fields of Molecular and Cellular Immunology to serve as Scientific Advisors for 4-Antibody. Without doubt, the special expertise, the longstanding experience and scientific network of our Advisors will have a direct, positive impact on the R&D activities of 4-Antibody. Furthermore, the international composition of our SAB evidences our ambition to develop 4-Antibody into a globally active company, with strong activities in the North American marketplace.”

4-Antibody has obtained patent protection for its novel, proprietary technology platform allowing the development and optimization of fully human antibody drugs. The European patent for 4-Antibody’s core technology had already been granted October 13, 2004, and in the meantime, the nine month period for filing objections to issued patent EP 132 1477 B1 has expired. No objections against 4-Antibody’s patent have been filed to the EPA authorities, paving the way to entering the issued EP patent into national validation phases at key pharmaceutical markets. Since its inception, 4-Antibody Ltd. has broadened its intellectual property portfolio by filing 25 patent applications with the aim to protect the company’s core technology in major pharmaceutical markets globally.

Ulf Grawunder, CEO of 4-Antibody, comments, “The granting of the European patent for our core technology platform was one important and crucial milestone in the early development of our start-up company. While the European patent for our unique technology is important for securing its application in a very competitive industry environment, the patent will also be an important value driver for our company, because it is the basis for future, revenue-generating license agreements. We were particularly pleased that the EPA (European patent agency) endorsed all of the central claims in our patent application. Management will continue to strengthen 4-Antibody’s intellectual property portfolio in order to establish 4-Antibody as a global player in the field of therapeutic antibody drug development.”

4-Antibody has legally executed a private placement of equity among a group of private investors, who were interested in participating into the future economic development of 4-Antibody Ltd. The private investors were offered to acquire shares of 4-Antibody at the same economic terms and conditions, as the existing venture capital seed round investors. The private placement has been offered exclusively to individuals who had helped the company in its early stages of creation.

Ulf Grawunder, CEO of 4-Antibody, comments, “We are very pleased about the development of the company since its inception and venture capital seed financing. The founders and first-round investors accepted the wish of selected private individuals, who have been extremely supportive in the creation and the early development of our start-up company, to invest into our company before completion of further financing activities.”

Wulf Haasner, Director of Finance and Operations adds, “These private individuals know the company very well and management welcomes the endorsement of its activities by these distinguished individuals and industry experts. 4-Antibody will continue to increase value for the new and existing shareholders.”

4-Antibody has been selected as one of the best-performing and innovative high-tech private companies of Europe and Israel in the fourth annual Tornado100 list. 4-Antibody, headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, was founded in 2002 by Dr. Ulf Grawunder, Dr. Dirk Haasner and Prof. Fritz Melchers and specializes in the development and optimization of fully human antibodies for therapeutic use.

“We are honored that the development of our company has been recognized by Tornado Insider by ranking 4-Antibody within the Top 100 private high-tech companies in Europe and Israel,” said Dr. Ulf Grawunder, CEO of 4-Antibody. “The award acknowledges the fact that our team has developed a convincing business strategy. Being a 2004 Tornado100 Winner will allow us to generate more visibility in the international marketplace and may positively impact further financing and business development activities”

The 2004 Tornado100 list can be found on the website of Tornado Insider, and includes a profile of 4-Antibody and the other 99 most promising and innovative emerging companies in the European IT and biotech sectors.

“The companies Tornado Insider selected are Europe’s technology stars,” said Niels Valkering, Tornado Insider’s Head of Research. “Combining internal analysis with advice from industry specialists, we identified the elite of Europe’s high-tech entrepreneurial vanguard, appreciating excellence both in innovative, commercial and financial performance. Watch these companies in 2005, as the technology they are commercializing today will change tomorrow’s trends.”

The selection of the 2004 Tornado100 Winners from thousands of candidates was judged among others according to the following criteria:

• Delivering an innovation that shows the promise to set new standards
• Creating a major new audience
• Commanding a significant customer base
• Having the potential to become a global brand or standard
• Influencing a major market
• Receiving a significant amount of funding
• Having a strong valuation for a lucrative exit
• Having a management with previous successful exit experience

The list was announced during the Tornado Insider/World Financial Symposiums T100 Leadership Forum. This event took place January 26th, 2005 in London and was a gathering of technology CEOs and CFOs eager to gain insights on how to lead their enterprise and their careers to more effective and positive outcomes.

4-Antibody AG
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