ARIAD Issued Third Protein Dimerization Patent

ARIAD Pharmaceuticals Inc. has been issued a third patent covering pharmaceutical regulation of fundamental cellular processes through protein dimerization. Dimerization is the act of bringing molecules together within the cell and is a key step in many cellular processes, such as gene activation, protein secretion, cell growth and cell death.

The claims in the ARIAD patent (U.S. Patent No. 5,869,337) cover a broad array of genetic constructs useful for engineering cells to make them susceptible to regulation through protein dimerization. The patent enhances ARIAD's proprietary base for the commercial development of Argent, (ARIAD Regulated Gene Expression Technology).

The lead Argent product under development at ARIAD is orally active protein therapy. Argent products have the potential to produce precisely controlled levels of a specific therapeutic protein in response to a small-molecule Dimerizer Drug delivered as a pill. ARIAD is currently testing Argent orally active protein therapy in animal models. Studies have been completed successfully using both human growth hormone (hGH) and erythropoietin (EPO).

In these studies, mice and nonhuman primates received single dose administration of a conventional gene therapy vector. It was shown that the vector delivered the genes necessary to produce Argent regulatory components and the therapeutic gene for either hGH or EPO. The animals then received doses of a Dimerizer Drug. This drug activated expression of the therapeutic gene leading to regulated, steady-state and dose-dependent production of the therapeutic protein.

The initial studies in non-human primates, conducted by ARIAD and its collaborators at the University of Pennsylvania, were published recently in the Jan. 1, 1999 issue of Science.

For more information: Jay R. LaMarche, CFO, ARIAD Pharmaceuticals Inc. Telephone: 617-494-0400.