Palatin Enters Research Agreement With Serono to Generate Compounds Using Palatin's MIDAS Drug Design Technology

Business Wire, Oct 1, 2001

Business Editors & Health/Medical Writers

PRINCETON, N.J.--(BW HealthWire)--Oct. 1, 2001

Palatin Technologies, Inc. (AMEX: PTN) announced today that it has entered into an agreement with the Serono Pharmaceutical Research Institute, the research center of Serono S.A. of Geneva, Switzerland.

Palatin will use MIDAS, its proprietary drug design technology platform to generate novel compounds in support of Serono's research programs. Financial details of the agreement were not disclosed.

Palatin's proprietary MIDAS technology platform is a novel synthetic approach for rapid, structure-based drug design. Its systematic and rational design algorithms transform peptides into rigid peptidomimetics as well as small molecule drug leads. Use of the MIDAS technology increases the productivity of the drug discovery process by eliminating the need for costly and time consuming steps such as the high-throughput screening of thousands of compounds, x-ray crystallography, NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance), CADD (computer assisted drug design), or other physical and in silico tools currently used for structure-based drug design.

Shubh Sharma, Ph.D., Palatin's vice president of chemistry and chief technology officer commented, "We are very pleased that Serono has chosen to enter into an active research agreement with Palatin to utilize our MIDAS technology platform. We believe that MIDAS represents a significant technological advance for the rapid, design and synthesis of novel peptide-derived compounds. In addition, it is a valuable tool for the structure-based design of small molecule drugs."

"We are extremely pleased with the progress of our MIDAS platform technology," said Perry B. Molinoff, M.D., executive vice president of research and development for Palatin. "MIDAS has many potential utilities, including drug development related to targets derived from genomics/proteomics research. We are successfully extending this approach to new internally selected targets and now to targets of interest with an alliance partner. Internally the MIDAS technology has played a key role in our melanocortin program, allowing us to generate receptor subtype selective molecules. Several of these compounds are now in preclinical development for the treatment of sexual dysfunction, obesity and inflammation."

Serono, headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, is a global biotechnology leader. The Company has six recombinant products on the market, Gonal-F(R), Luveris(R), Ovidrel(R)/Ovitrelle(R), Rebif(R), Serostim(R) and Saizen(R) (Rebif(R) and Luveris(R) are not approved in the USA). In addition to being the world leader in reproductive health, Serono has strong market positions in neurology, metabolism and growth. Serono's research programs are focused on growing these businesses and on establishing new therapeutic areas. Currently, there are thirteen molecules in development.

In 2000, Serono achieved worldwide revenues of $1.240 billion, and a net income of $301 million, making it the third largest biotech company in the world based on revenues. Serono operates in 45 countries, and its products are sold in over 100 countries. Bearer shares of Serono S.A., the holding company, are traded on the SWX Swiss Exchange (SEO) and its American Depositary Shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange (SRA).

Palatin Technologies, Inc. is a development-stage biopharmaceutical company. The company is currently conducting clinical investigations with its lead drug, PT-141, for the treatment of erectile dysfunction, and is developing additional therapeutic compounds discovered using its enabling peptide platform technology, MIDAS. Additionally, Palatin is developing a product for infection imaging, LeuTech(R), based on a proprietary radiolabeled monoclonal antibody. For further information visit the Palatin web site at www.palatin.com.

Statements about the Company's future expectations, including development and regulatory plans, and all other statements in this document other than historical facts, are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The Company intends that such forward-looking statements be subject to the safe harbors created thereby. Palatin's actual results may differ materially from its historical results of operations and those discussed in the forward-looking statements for various reasons, including, but not limited to the Company's ability to carry out its business plan, successful development and commercial acceptance of its products, ability to fund development of technology, the risk that products may not result from development activities, protection of its intellectual property, ability to establish and successfully complete clinical trials for product approval, need for regulatory approvals, dependence on it partners for development of certain projects, and other factors discussed in the Company's periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company is not responsible for events not updated after the date on this press release.