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| Repligen and Boston University to Develop Autism Symptom Assessment Tools | ||
| 5/14/03 | ||
| WALTHAM, Mass., May 14, 2003 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/
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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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