MYRIAD GENETICS AND BAYER CORPORATION EXTEND PROTEOMICS COLLABORATION THROUGH DECEMBER 31,2002
Alliance Expanded Into Obesity in Addition to Dementia Pathways
Myriad Genetics, Inc. (Nasdaq: MYGN) announced today that it has extended its proteomics collaboration with Bayer Corporation through December 31, 2002. This highly productive research program, using Myriad's ProNet® technology, has already discovered six candidate therapeutic targets in dementia for Bayer. The collaboration will now be expanded into a new field of investigation covering important biological pathways involved in the cause of obesity.
"We are pleased to have Bayer's continued support and enthusiasm for ProNet, one of Myriad's core proteomics technologies," said Peter Meldrum, President and Chief Executive Officer of Myriad Genetics, Inc. "Bayer has proven itself to be a leader in the application of the new proteomics and genomics technologies for the enhancement of their drug discovery and development programs."
Myriad's ProNet technology has been prolific, generating many thousands of disease pathway proteins for Myriad and its collaborators. Proteomics is revolutionizing medicine by identifying the specific set of drug targets that will be most valuable in the prevention and treatment of human disease. It is generally estimated that there are 5,000 to 10,000 high quality therapeutic targets among the more than 500,000 proteins in the human body. The challenge to the drug developer is the identification of those target proteins that represent the optimal point of intervention in the disease pathway. Proteomics is the answer to this challenge, and Myriad's proprietary ProNet technology is one of the preeminent proteomics systems in use by global leaders in pharmaceutical development today.
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