Kereos and Dow sign licensing agreement

Kereos, a biotechnology company from St Louis, and The Dow Chemical Company have entered into a licensing agreement to allow both companies access to patent portfolios for the development and commercialisation of targeted imaging agents.

The agreement is intended to facilitate further development and marketing of novel targeted imaging agents for more accurate diagnosis of cancer and cardiovascular disease. This agreement builds on an ongoing relationship between Kereos and Dow, including a collaboration announced in April 2003 under a National Cancer Institute contract involving the two companies as well as Royal Philips Electronics and researchers at Washington University in St. Louis and Barnes Jewish Hospital.

As part of the April 2003 collaboration, ChelaMedSM radiopharmaceutical services from Dowpharma, a business unit of Dow, has been developing new chelating molecules that can be incorporated in Kereos' targeted imaging agents. This combination can carry high metal ion payloads precisely to tumours and atherosclerotic plaques, making it possible for Kereos to develop effective products for both targeted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and targeted nuclear imaging. Under terms of the new licensing agreement, Kereos gains commercial rights to the chelating molecules and to certain chelate technology previously developed by Dow. The agreement also allows Dow to use the molecules created under the collaboration in other applications.

'Our growing relationship with Kereos and the synergies among our technologies and core competencies continues to yield best-in-class novel imaging products for human health,' said Nick Hyde, business director, Dowpharma. 'We are delighted to be working with Kereos in the rapidly emerging field of molecular imaging that will help to improve the diagnosis and treatment of cancer and cardiovascular disease.'

'Dowpharma's leading-edge chelation technologies have helped Kereos to break new ground in targeted imaging agents for cancer and cardiovascular disease diagnosis,' said Dr Robert Beardsley, ceo of Kereos. 'With the ability to find tumours earlier, or to diagnose atherosclerotic plaque more accurately, our targeted agents can improve the treatment of these diseases significantly. This agreement with Dow allows these products to continue advancing rapidly, with the first candidates entering the clinic next year.'