The News

Wyeth Joins Ingenium’s Genetic Rat Model Program

21/01/2004

Madison, N.J., and Munich, Germany, January 21, 2004 – Wyeth (NYSE: WYE) and Ingenium Pharmaceuticals AG announced today an agreement under which Ingenium shall provide Wyeth with novel genetic rat models with alterations in genes specified by Wyeth. The models will be developed using Ingenium’s INGENOtyping™ technology,which is the most rapid technology for generating genetic mouse models and which Ingenium has now established as the world’s first industrialized platform for developing genetic rat models. No financial terms of the agreement have been disclosed.As opposed to mouse “knockout” models, genetic rat models have not been broadly available, despite years of intense research worldwide, due to rat-specific limitations in the standard ES-cell based technology used for producing mouse models. Nevertheless, the rat remains the model of choice for many therapeutic areas, including cardiovascular, behavioural and neurological disease research.“Our INGENOtyping™ technology enables the development of rat genetic models across the genome, which is a significant advance for pharmaceutical development,” said Michael C. Nehls, M.D., Ph.D., CEO of Ingenium. “We are pleased to provide the advantages of this groundbreaking technology to Wyeth, a true leader in innovation.” Ingenium has created a “rolling-circle” production pipeline that represents a living, inbred, and gene-altered rat archive. On average, one year’s production represents an archive size sufficient for greater than two-fold mutational coverage on a gene-by-gene basis. This translates into an expected probability of over 90% to develop the desired gene-specific rat variant in less than 12 months. Ingenium’s INGENOtyping™ technology for genetic rat models is therefore comparable in time and efficiency to what current murine ES-cell-based technology provides for producing genetic mouse models. Wyeth is one of the world's largest research-driven pharmaceutical and health care products companies. It is a leader in the discovery, development, manufacturing and marketing of pharmaceuticals, vaccines, biotechnology products and non-prescription medicines that improve the quality of life for people worldwide. The Company's major divisions include Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, Wyeth Consumer Healthcare and Fort Dodge Animal Health. The basis of Ingenium’s business is its knowledge and expertise in generating the biological information critical to the discovery, validation and development of therapeutics. Ingenium’s drug discovery technologies combine functional genetics in the murine model system with proprietary, therapeutic goal-oriented biological screens and advanced pathway analysis. From the breadth of knowledge generated by the Wyeth-Ingenium Genetic Rat Model Agreement January 21, 2004 Page 2 of 2 company’s Deductive Genomics® technology, Ingenium is currently advancing a pipeline of novel models and biologically validated drug targets in the areas of inflammatory bowel disease, obesity/diabetes, and neurological disorders. The company’s INGENOtypingä platform offers the most rapid access to innovative rodent models for drug discovery and development and drug target validation. Ingenium has research partnership agreements with Elan Corporation, Bayer AG, F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., Molecular Engines Laboratories, Sequenom Inc., and Oxagen Limited, in addition to numerous international academic collaborations. Ingenium and Deductive Genomics are registered U.S. trademarks.

For more information contact:
For Ingenium Gretchen L.P. Schweitzer Vice President Ingenium Pharmaceuticals AG mailto:gretchen.schweitzer@ingenium-ag.com