CAT Catco Reinsurance Opportunities Fund Limited

RNS No 5920t
CAMBRIDGE ANTIBODY TECHNOLOGY GROUP
24th March 1999

STRENGTHENS INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY POSITION

FUNDAMENTAL HUMAN ANTIBODY PATENT GRANTED IN US

Melbourn, UK... Cambridge Antibody Technology ("CAT") has been granted a US
patent with broad claims covering human antibodies to human proteins isolated
by phage display.   

The key significance of the patent is that it covers the isolation of human
antibodies against all human proteins, except for those that generate natural
antibodies in humans.   Targets for drugs designed to treat many human
diseases will often be such human proteins, particularly as future drug
targets emerge from human genome initiatives.

Dr David Chiswell, Chief Executive Officer of CAT, commenting on today's
announcement, said:

"This provides CAT with a fundamental US patent which significantly
strengthens our intellectual property position in the US and adds to our
patent portfolio in both the US and Europe covering the isolation of
monoclonal antibodies by phage display.  In particular, the patent's broad
coverage, of human antibodies that bind human proteins, underpins our business
strategy of developing a broad pipeline of human antibody based therapeutic
products."

This patent, No. US 5,885,793, entitled "Production of Anti-Self Antibodies
from Antibody Segment Repertoires and Displayed on Phage" arises from work
carried out by the Medical Research Council ('MRC') and CAT.   This work
demonstrated that human antibody fragments directed against human proteins
could be isolated from human antibody phage display libraries constructed from
non-immunised humans.   An equivalent Australian patent has already been
granted, with European and Japanese filings currently under examination. 

END




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