| WALTHAM, Mass., May 14, 2003 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/
--
Repligen Corporation (Nasdaq: RGEN) announced today the
initiation of a clinical research collaboration with Boston
University Medical Center to evaluate three approaches to
quantifying changes in the symptoms of autism. If successful, the
collaboration could lead to more rapid and quantitative methods to
assess the benefit of new therapies for autism. Each potential
assessment tool is based on published observations that people with
autism have abnormalities in eye-tracking, recognition of facial
expressions and skin conductance. The project will assess whether
these observations can be developed into quantitative tools for
repeated assessment of symptoms in a clinical trial. The research is
directed by Helen Tager-Flusberg, Ph.D., Professor of Anatomy and
Neurobiology at Boston University School of Medicine and Principal
Investigator of the NIH Collaborative Programs for Excellence in
Autism at Boston University and Robert Joseph, Ph.D., Instructor of
Anatomy and Neurobiology at Boston University School of Medicine.
Separately, Cure Autism Now (CAN) announced that it has awarded
three grants to fund the development and evaluation of new tools to
quantify changes in the symptoms of autism in clinical trials. The
research will be carried through a series of grant awards to
academic centers with established expertise in psychometrics or
neurophysiology. A grant was awarded to Peter Mundy, Ph.D.,
Departments of Psychology and Pediatrics, University of Miami to
assess the reliability of several existing scales of social
communication. Lucy Miller, Ph.D., Departments of Rehabilitative
Medicine and Pediatrics, University of Colorado Health Sciences
Center received a grant award to assess the reaction of children
with autism to a variety of sensory stimuli. Finally, Bryan King,
M.D., Department of Psychiatry, Dartmouth Medical School will study
parents'observations of behavior in their own children with autism
versus other children with autism and compare those
parents'observations to investigators'observations in an effort to
discern why behavioral change might be observed by the parent but
not an investigator. These grants are jointly funded by CAN and
Repligen.
'These four projects represent innovative approaches to
quantifying changes in the symptoms of autism which may improve the
efficiency of assessing novel interventions,'said Walter Herlihy,
Ph.D., President and CEO of Repligen. 'This research is part of our
comprehensive program to develop new therapies for pediatric
developmental disorders.'
About Repligen Corporation
Repligen Corporation is a biopharmaceutical company committed to
being the leader in the development of new drugs for pediatric
developmental disorders including autism, immune and metabolic
disorders. Repligen has a Specialty Pharmaceuticals business
comprised of rProtein A(TM) and SecreFlo(TM), the profits from which
will be used to support the development of our proprietary products.
rProtein A(TM) is a consumable reagent used by the pharmaceutical
industry to produce a class of drugs called monoclonal antibodies
and SecreFlo(TM), secretin for injection, is marketed to
gastroenterologists for pancreatic assessment and for use during a
gastrointestinal procedure called ERCP. Repligen's corporate
headquarters are located at 41 Seyon Street, Building #1, Suite 100,
Waltham, MA 02453. Additional information may be requested from
www.repligen.com.
About Cure Autism Now
Founded in 1995, Cure Autism Now is an organization of parents,
clinicians and scientists dedicated to finding effective biological
treatments, prevention and a cure for autism and related disorders.
Through funding and commitments of over $10 million in research
awards and the development and support of the Autism Genetic
Resource Exchange, Cure Autism Now is the largest private funder of
autism research and resources in the country. In addition to a
primary focus of accelerating and funding critical biomedical
research, Cure Autism Now is also committed to broadening awareness
and understanding of a disease that has been virtually ignored for
over forty years.
This release contains forward-looking statements which are made
pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of Section 21E of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The forward-looking statements in
this release do not constitute guarantees of future performance.
Investors are cautioned that statements in this press release which
are not strictly historical statements, including, without
limitation, statements regarding current or future financial
performance, management's strategy, plans and objectives for future
operations, clinical trials and results and product development and
manufacturing plans and performance such as the anticipated growth
in the monoclonal antibody market and projected growth in product
sales, constitute forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking
statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that
could cause actual results to differ materially from those
anticipated, including, without limitation, risks associated with:
the success of current and future collaborative relationships, the
market acceptance of our products, our ability to compete with
larger, better financed pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies,
new approaches to the treatment of our targeted diseases, our
expectation of incurring continued losses, our uncertainty of
product revenues and profits, our ability to generate future
revenues, our ability to raise additional capital to continue our
drug development programs, the success of our clinical trials, our
ability to develop and commercialize products, our ability to obtain
required regulatory approvals, our compliance with all Food and Drug
Administration regulations, our ability to obtain, maintain and
protect intellectual property rights for our products, the risk of
litigation regarding our intellectual property rights, our limited
sales and manufacturing capabilities, our dependence on third-party
manufacturers and value added resellers, our ability to hire and
retain skilled personnel, our volatile stock price, and other risks
detailed in Repligen's filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission. Repligen assumes no obligation to update any
forward-looking information contained in this press release or with
respect to the announcements described herein.
CONTACT:
Walter C. Herlihy, Ph.D.
President and Chief Executive Officer
(781) 250-0111, ext. 2000
David Walsey (investors)
Laura L. Whitehouse
Sr. Director Market Development
(781) 250-0111, ext. 2306
SOURCE Repligen Corporation
Walter C. Herlihy, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer,
+1-781-250-0111, ext. 2000, or David Walsey (investors), or Laura L.
Whitehouse, Sr. Director Market Development, +1-781-250-0111, ext.
2306 all of Repligen
http://www.repligen.com
Copyright (C) 2003 PR Newswire. All rights reserved.
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