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Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Sirtris Pharmaceuticals Licenses Abiotic Stress Technology for Plants to Bayer CropScience
New approaches to improving agricultural productivity
Monheim, March 12, 2008 – Sirtris Pharmaceuticals Inc., Cambridge, Massachusetts, today announces a license agreement with Bayer CropScience AG that grants exclusive, worldwide rights in the field of plants to a certain Sirtris technology which contributes to cellular life span extension and stress resistance. In return, Sirtris will receive an initial up-front and future success bound milestone payments. Further financial terms were not disclosed.
Crop damage from drought, lack of nutrients and other environmental stresses is of growing worldwide concern. The licensed technology provides possible new approaches to improving agricultural productivity.
“Sirtris has and continues to build a strong intellectual property estate around the cellular pathways and distinct molecules associated with longevity and diseases of aging,” said Karl Normington, PhD, Senior Director of Intellectual Property. “Sublicensing portions of our technology to areas that are outside our principle lines of focus, such as agricultural productivity, extend the applications of our technology.”
“We are pleased to be working with Bayer CropScience,” said Sirtris Pharmaceuticals Chief Executive Officer and Vice Chair Christoph Westphal, MD, PhD. “Because of their focus on improving agricultural productivity, they are well-positioned to leverage this important technology for crop yield stability.”
Michiel van Lookeren Campagne, PhD, Head of BioScience Research for Bayer CropScience welcomes the partnership with Sirtris Phramaceuticals: “Global population growth and climate change have put a huge pressure on increasing agricultural productivity under sub-optimal growing conditions. The integration of Sirtris’ proprietary technology into our seeds and traits R&D pipeline will complement our activities in obtaining higher yielding crops - especially under difficult climatic conditions.”
About Bayer CropScience
Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the fields of health care, nutrition and high-tech materials. Bayer CropScience AG, a subsidiary of Bayer AG with annual sales of about EUR 5.8 billion (2007), is one of the world’s leading innovative crop science companies in the areas of crop protection, non-agricultural pest control, seeds and plant biotechnology. The company offers an outstanding range of products and extensive service backup for modern, sustainable agriculture and for non-agricultural applications. Bayer CropScience has a global workforce of about 17,800 and is represented in more than 120 countries. This and further news is available at: www.newsroom.bayercropscience.com
About Sirtris Pharmaceuticals
Sirtris Pharmaceuticals is a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing proprietary, orally available, small molecule drugs with the potential to treat diseases associated with aging, including metabolic diseases such as Type 2 Diabetes. Our drug candidates are designed to mimic certain beneficial health effects of calorie restriction, without requiring a change in eating habits, by activation of sirtuins, a recently discovered class of enzymes that the Company believes control the aging process. The company's headquarters are in Cambridge, Massachusetts. This and further information is available at: www.sirtrispharma.com
Contacts:
Bayer CropScience AG, Monheim, Germany
Utz Klages, phone: +49 2173 38-3125
E-mail: utz.klages@bayercropscience.com
Sirtris Pharmaceuticals, Massachusetts, USA
John Lacey, +1 617-252-6920
Associate Director of Corporate Communications
E-Mail: jlacey@sirtrispharma.com
More information is available at www.bayercropscience.com
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release may contain forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts made by Bayer Group or subgroup management. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead to material differences between the actual future results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and the estimates given here. These factors include those described by Bayer in published reports. These reports are available on the Bayer website at www.bayer.com. The company assumes no liability whatsoever to update these forward-looking statements or to conform them to future events or developments.
Crop damage from drought, lack of nutrients and other environmental stresses is of growing worldwide concern. The licensed technology provides possible new approaches to improving agricultural productivity.
“Sirtris has and continues to build a strong intellectual property estate around the cellular pathways and distinct molecules associated with longevity and diseases of aging,” said Karl Normington, PhD, Senior Director of Intellectual Property. “Sublicensing portions of our technology to areas that are outside our principle lines of focus, such as agricultural productivity, extend the applications of our technology.”
“We are pleased to be working with Bayer CropScience,” said Sirtris Pharmaceuticals Chief Executive Officer and Vice Chair Christoph Westphal, MD, PhD. “Because of their focus on improving agricultural productivity, they are well-positioned to leverage this important technology for crop yield stability.”
Michiel van Lookeren Campagne, PhD, Head of BioScience Research for Bayer CropScience welcomes the partnership with Sirtris Phramaceuticals: “Global population growth and climate change have put a huge pressure on increasing agricultural productivity under sub-optimal growing conditions. The integration of Sirtris’ proprietary technology into our seeds and traits R&D pipeline will complement our activities in obtaining higher yielding crops - especially under difficult climatic conditions.”
About Bayer CropScience
Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the fields of health care, nutrition and high-tech materials. Bayer CropScience AG, a subsidiary of Bayer AG with annual sales of about EUR 5.8 billion (2007), is one of the world’s leading innovative crop science companies in the areas of crop protection, non-agricultural pest control, seeds and plant biotechnology. The company offers an outstanding range of products and extensive service backup for modern, sustainable agriculture and for non-agricultural applications. Bayer CropScience has a global workforce of about 17,800 and is represented in more than 120 countries. This and further news is available at: www.newsroom.bayercropscience.com
About Sirtris Pharmaceuticals
Sirtris Pharmaceuticals is a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing proprietary, orally available, small molecule drugs with the potential to treat diseases associated with aging, including metabolic diseases such as Type 2 Diabetes. Our drug candidates are designed to mimic certain beneficial health effects of calorie restriction, without requiring a change in eating habits, by activation of sirtuins, a recently discovered class of enzymes that the Company believes control the aging process. The company's headquarters are in Cambridge, Massachusetts. This and further information is available at: www.sirtrispharma.com
Contacts:
Bayer CropScience AG, Monheim, Germany
Utz Klages, phone: +49 2173 38-3125
E-mail: utz.klages@bayercropscience.com
Sirtris Pharmaceuticals, Massachusetts, USA
John Lacey, +1 617-252-6920
Associate Director of Corporate Communications
E-Mail: jlacey@sirtrispharma.com
More information is available at www.bayercropscience.com
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release may contain forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts made by Bayer Group or subgroup management. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead to material differences between the actual future results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and the estimates given here. These factors include those described by Bayer in published reports. These reports are available on the Bayer website at www.bayer.com. The company assumes no liability whatsoever to update these forward-looking statements or to conform them to future events or developments.
[ last update: Friday, February 6, 2009 ]
