ferret's stock to watch: evogenix ltd

Ferret's Stock to Watch: EVOGENIX LTD
09:09, Thursday, 13 April 2006

A BI0TECH KEEPING GOOD COMPANY BY WAY OF RESEARCH SOURCE

Sydney - Thursday - April 13: (RWE Aust Business News)
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OVERVIEW
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EvoGenix Ltd (EGX) focuses on the dynamic field of antibody
therapeutics, the fastest growing sector of the pharmaceutical industry.

The company has a fully integrated technology platform for
creating superior antibody products.

This is being used to establish multiple collaborations with
international pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, an example of
which is the recent agreement signed with GlaxoSmithKline.

These collaborations deliver revenues in the short term through
R&D payments, as well as milestone payments and royalties as each
product developed progresses to the market.

In parallel, the company is utilising its technology strengths
internally, to develop a succession of proprietary antibody therapeutics
which are safe and effective, and ready for validation in patients.

It is intended to out-license these products for the later
stages of their development.

Favourable licensing terms could be expected, given the strong
demand from the international pharmaceutical industry to add antibody
products to their drug pipelines.

Earlier this week EvoGenix announced the in-licensing of an
anti-cancer antibody discovered by researchers at the University of
Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS).

The ham*ster antibody, DMF10, which was developed by Kenneth
Rock, MD, Professor and Chair of Pathology at UMMS, has shown strong
evidence of activity against lung cancer and melanoma but may also
destroy other cancer types.

The antibody attacks a structure on the surface of cancer cells
that is not found on normal cells.

This means that a cancer therapy developed from the antibody is
expected to be both effective and devoid of side effects.

The terms of the agreement with the UMMS include an upfront
payment, milestone payments and a small royalty on future product sales.

Research to date at the UMMS has shown DMF10 to be unusual among
anti-cancer antibodies in that it kills cancer cells directly.

Many anti-cancer antibodies require a toxic payload to help them
kill the tumour, while some reduce cancer growth by starving the tumour
of an effective blood supply.

The direct anti-cancer property of DMF10 distinguishes it from
antibodies against similar targets that have been investigated by some
other researchers.

EvoGenix will apply its proprietary technologies to rapidly
advance the antibody to the stage where it can be tested in patients,
humanising the antibody to eliminate rejection and optimising its cancer
killing activity.

EvoGenix has assessed DMF10 as a product of high potential, and
will explore means of fast tracking its development over the coming 12
months.

Dr Merilyn Sleigh, chief executive officer of EvoGenix said,
"Our scientific advisors have assessed this opportunity as extremely
favourable for EvoGenix because DMF10 has already undergone extensive
testing by its inventor.

"The questions we would normally explore when we first evaluate
an antibody for our pipeline have already been answered.

"It is perfectly placed for immediate application of our
technology platform to create what we expect to be a valuable cancer
treatment," she said.

EvoGenix aims to out-license its antibodies once a humanised and
optimised product has been generated.

"Based on the size of antibody deals being done in the industry,
its large potential market and the success of cancer antibodies such as
Avastin, which achieved sales of more than $US1 billion in 2005 after
only two years on the market, we believe that DMF10 will attract very
strong attention as a licensing prospect and should yield very
attractive terms," Dr Sleigh suggests.

The inventor of the antibody, Dr Rock, will work with EvoGenix
on the project in the roles of consultant and scientific advisor.

Dr Rock commented: "While we have important work still to do, I
believe that this antibody has excellent prospects to be developed as a
new cancer therapy.

"I welcome the opportunity to participate in the project with
EvoGenix.

"Application of their humanising and optimising technology
should enable us to quickly advance to the next stage in the development
process," Dr Rock added.

SHARE PRICE MOVEMENTS
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Shares of EvoGenix yesterday sold 0.5c lower at 44.5c. Rolling
high for the year has been 60c and low 25c. The company has 66.19
million shares on issue with a market cap of $29.7 million.

EvoGenix outlined developments in the company during the period
from July to December, showing positive progress made by the company
over the period.

The company declared, "following from our acquisition of US
company Absalus Inc (now EvoGenix Inc) in April 2005, our first major
milestone for the half year was completion of our ASX listing in
August."

This listing was successful in a difficult market for
biotechnology companies, raising $9 million in capital to support
current operations of the company through to the end of calendar year
2007.

Subsequent achievements have been:

* The signing of a licensing deal with Korean diagnostics
company Dinona Inc, providing access for EvoGenix to a promising
antibody for application in the treatment of leukaemia;

* The signing of a collaborative agreement with GlaxoSmithKline.
Under this latter agreement, EvoGenix will apply its EvoGene protein
optimisation technology to develop improved versions of up to three
products from the GlaxoSmithKline pipeline.

* The announcement that the company had achieved its initial
scientific milestones in development of its product EGX-010 - aimed at
providing a safe and effective treatment for bone loss in conditions
such as osteoporosis, bone cancer, multiple myeloma and arthritis.

These three major achievements demonstrate timely progress
against the milestones set in the company's IPO prospectus issued in
June 2005.

BACKGROUND
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EvoGenix Ltd is a rapidly developing biotechnology company
established in August, 2001. The company was originally founded with
venture capital backing to develop key discoveries in the field of
protein engineering made by scientists from Australia's Co-operative
Research Centre for Diagnostics and CSIRO Division of Health Sciences
and Nutrition.

Further investment completed in 2004 brought about an expansion
of the company with new board members and executives appointed.

In addition, in 2004, EvoGenix entered an important strategic
alliance with a recently established Californian antibody engineering
company, Absalus Inc.

This alliance brought about significant growth in the
capabilities of the two companies in the antibody sector, with a newly
integrated technology platform for delivering potent humanised
therapeutic products ready for clinical development. This alliance was
formalised through the merger of the two companies in April 2005.

EvoGenix now has established laboratory and business development
operations in Melbourne, a head office in Sydney and a key operation in
Mountain View, California, with responsibility for evaluating and
securing new opportunities for the company in both technology and
products.

Following completion of the integration of the operations of
Absalus Inc, now named EvoGenix Inc, the company listed on the
Australian Stock Exchange in August.

About UMMS
**********

The University of Massachusetts Medical School, one of the
fastest growing academic health centres in the United States, has built
a reputation as a world class research institution, consistently
producing noteworthy advances in clinical and basic research. The
Medical School attracts more than $US174 million in research funding
annually, 80 per cent of which comes from US federal government sources.

UMMS is the academic partner of UMass Memorial Health Care, the
largest health care provider in central Massachusetts.

ENDS