bioMérieux acquires an option to license Applied NeuroSolutions’ Technology to diagnose Alzheimer’s disease

bioMérieux acquires an option to license Applied NeuroSolutions’ Technology to diagnose Alzheimer’s disease

Marcy l’Etoile, France - December 15, 2004. bioMérieux SA (Euronext: FR0010096479 – BIM) , announces today that it signed a non-exclusive agreement with Applied Neurosolutions granting bioMérieux SA an option to assess Applied Neurosolutions’ technology for the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease.
 

The option and licensing agreement, including all milestones, can be worth in excess of $5 million, plus substantial royalties. Under terms of the non-exclusive agreement announced today, which includes an upfront payment, potential milestones, and potential substantial royalties, bioMérieux would be financially responsible for obtaining regulatory approvals to develop and sell diagnostic tests for Alzheimer’s disease using the Applied Neurosolutions’ technology.

Alzheimer disease is a progressive brain disorder that gradually destroys a person’s memory and ability to learn, reason, make judgments, communicate and carry out daily activities. Four millions and a half of Americans currently carry Alzheimer’s disease, a figure which is comparable in other developed countries and that is expected to dramatically increase with more people ageing. There are currently no FDA-approved diagnostic tests for Alzheimer’s disease.

According to Dr Christophe Mérieux, Senior Corporate Vice President R&D and Medical Affairs for bioMérieux, “Today’s option agreement represents a strategic milestone towards our goal of evaluating best opportunities to penetrate the field of neuro-degenerative diseases with innovative biological tests. We will be evaluating Applied NeuroSolutions' technology in the context of our other proprietary technologies in order to design the best solutions for Alzheimer's disease diagnostics”.