Avalon Pharmaceuticals Announces Expiration of the sanofi-aventis Agreement
December 21 2005 - 4:00PM
PR Newswire (US)
GERMANTOWN, Md., Dec. 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Avalon
Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq and ArcaEx(R): AVRX), a
biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development
of small molecule therapeutics, today announced the expiration of
its agreement with sanofi-aventis. The agreement in December 2003
established a collaboration to utilize molecular cytogenetics to
identify and validate oncology targets. The agreement expired as a
result of sanofi- aventis' decision not to advance targets that
were a focus of the collaboration for further validation. "We have
appreciated the close collaboration with sanofi-aventis on this
program," said Paul Young, Ph.D., Vice President of Research for
Avalon. "While they did not select any targets from this program,
we expect to continue validation studies on several of the genes as
potential Avalon drug discovery targets." About Avalon
Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Avalon Pharmaceuticals is a biopharmaceutical
company focused on the discovery and development of small molecule
therapeutics. Avalon seeks to discover and develop novel
therapeutics through the use of a comprehensive, innovative and
proprietary suite of technologies based upon large-scale gene
expression analysis which it calls AvalonRx(R). Avalon
Pharmaceuticals was established in 1999 and is headquartered in
Germantown, Maryland. This announcement contains, in addition to
historical information, certain forward-looking statements that
involve risks and uncertainties, in particular, related to the
development of Avalon drug discovery targets. Such statements
reflect the current views of Avalon management and are based on
certain assumptions. Actual results could differ materially from
those currently anticipated as a result of a number of factors,
risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such
efforts will succeed or that future drug discovery efforts will
generate drug products. Contacts: Avalon Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Noonan Russo Gary Lessing Wendy Lau (Media) Chief Financial Officer
Tel: (212) 845-4272 Tel: (301) 556-9900 Fax: (301) 556-9910 Jane
Petrino (Investors) Email: Tel: (212) 845-4274 DATASOURCE: Avalon
Pharmaceuticals, Inc. CONTACT: Gary Lessing, Chief Financial
Officer of Avalon Pharmaceuticals, Inc., +1-301-556-9900, Fax
+1-301-556-9910, ; or Wendy Lau - Media, +1-212-845-4272, or Jane
Petrino - Investors, +1-212-845-4274, both of Noonan Russo for
Avalon Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
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