November 03, 2010 8:30am EDT
Download as PDF
MIAMI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
OPKO Health, Inc. (NYSE Amex: OPK) announced that it has made an
investment in Fabrus, LLC, a privately held early stage biotechnology
company with next generation therapeutic antibody drug discovery and
development capabilities. In exchange for the Company's investment, the
Company acquired approximately 13% of Fabrus' outstanding membership
interests on a fully diluted basis.
"Fabrus is using its proprietary antibody screening and engineering
approach to discover promising lead compounds against several important
oncology targets," said Phillip Frost, M.D., OPKO's Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer. "We believe the Fabrus discovery approach is novel,
rapid, provides valuable data at very early discovery stages, and can
screen multiple targets or pathways in parallel. We are pleased to
secure a stake in this cutting edge company, and we look forward to
rapidly developing important drug candidates."
The Company's investment was part of a $2 million financing for Fabrus.
Other investors participating in the financing include Frost Gamma
Investments Trust, of which Phillip Frost is the sole trustee, and Hsu
Gamma Investment, L.P., of which Jane Hsiao, the Company's Vice Chairman
and Chief Technical Officer, serves as the general partner. In
connection with the financing, Drs. Frost and Hsiao will join the Fabrus
Board of Managers.
"We are pleased to have OPKO as a major shareholder in Fabrus," said Dr.
Vaughn Smider, founder of Fabrus. "Drs. Frost and Hsiao will bring
significant depth in the pharmaceutical industry to the Fabrus team."
About OPKO Health, Inc.
Miami-based OPKO is a specialty healthcare company involved in the
discovery, development, and commercialization of proprietary
pharmaceutical products, medical devices, vaccines, diagnostic
technologies and imaging systems. Initially focused on the treatment and
management of ophthalmic diseases, OPKO has since expanded into other
areas of major unmet medical need.
About Fabrus LLC
Fabrus is the first company to bring the speed and flexibility of small
molecule screening to the field of fully human antibody therapeutics,
while being unencumbered by existing antibody engineering intellectual
property. The novel discovery format is analogous to a combinatorial
chemistry library and enables direct cell based screening, opening novel
targets to antibody therapeutics like G-protein coupled receptors or ion
channels. For more information go to www.fabrus.net .
This press release contains "forward-looking statements," as that
term is defined under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995 (PSLRA), which statements may be identified by words such as
"expects," "plans," "projects," "will," "may," "anticipates,"
"believes," "should," "intends," "estimates," and other words of similar
meaning, including statements regarding our product development efforts,
Fabrus' ability to discover promising lead compounds against several
attractive oncology targets, and our ability to rapidly develop
important drug candidates, as well as other non-historical statements
about our expectations, beliefs or intentions regarding our business,
technologies and products, financial condition, strategies or prospects.
Many factors could cause our actual activities or results to differ
materially from the activities and results anticipated in
forward-looking statements. These factors include those described in our
filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as risks
inherent in funding, developing and obtaining regulatory approvals of
new, commercially-viable and competitive products and treatments. In
addition, forward-looking statements may also be adversely affected by
general market factors, competitive product development, product
availability, federal and state regulations and legislation, the
regulatory process for new products and indications, manufacturing
issues that may arise, patent positions and litigation, among other
factors. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release
speak only as of the date the statements were made, and we do not
undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements. We intend
that all forward-looking statements be subject to the safe-harbor
provisions of the PSLRA.
Source: OPKO Health, Inc.
Released November 3, 2010
email Email Alerts
location_city Company Profile
contact_page Contacts
rss_feed RSS News Feed
account_tree Sitemap
Apply on OPKO Health (Ireland)’s careers page