Idera Pharmaceuticals Reports First Quarter 2009 Financial Results

Business Wire, May 06, 2009

In December 2006, the Company and Merck & Co. Inc. entered into an exclusive license and research collaboration agreement to research, develop and commercialize vaccine products containing the Company’s TLR7, 8 and 9 agonists in the fields of oncology, infectious diseases and Alzheimer’s disease. In addition, as part of the agreement, the two companies engaged in a two-year research collaboration to generate novel agonists targeting TLR7 and TLR8 incorporating both Merck and Idera chemistry for use in the licensed fields which was renewed for an additional year to December 2009. Under the terms of the agreement, Merck is funding the research and development activities, including the Company’s research and development activities under the collaboration.

TLR7 and TLR8 agonists

The Company has designed and created RNA-based compounds that act as agonists of TLR7 and/or TLR8. In preclinical studies, these TLR7 and/or TLR8 agonists induced immune responses that the Company believes may be applicable to the treatment of cancer and infectious diseases.

Scientific Highlights

Data Presentations

During the 2009 Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research held April 18-22, 2009, Idera scientists and collaborators presented on studies of TLR-targeted compounds:

• Abstract 5067 entitled “Antitumor activity of a novel dual agonist of TLR7 and TLR8 in a preclinical model of 3LL-C75 lung carcinoma in wild type, TLR7-/-, TLR9-/-, and MyD88-/- mice” was presented by Idera scientists.
• Abstract 5068 entitled “Antitumor activity of a dual agonist of TLR7 and TLR8 in combination with bevacizumab in preclinical models of human non-small cell lung and colon cancers” was presented by Idera scientists.
• Abstract 2778 entitled “Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) interacts with ErbB receptors at membrane level and a TLR9 agonist synergizes with trastuzumab in trastuzumab-resistant breast cancer xenografts via modulation of ErbB signaling” was presented by researchers from the University of Naples, Italy, in collaboration with Idera scientists.

Intellectual Property

Presently, the Company holds over 260 issued patents and pending patent applications world-wide, which cover novel agonists and antagonists of TLR7, 8 and 9. The following patents were recently issued:

• US 7,517,862, entitled “Modulation of Immunostimulatory Properties of Oligonucleotide-based Compounds by Optimal Presentation of 5’ Ends”
• US 7,498,426, entitled “Immunostimulatory Oligonucleotide Multimers”
• US 7,498,425, entitled “Immunostimulatory Oligonucleotide Multimers”
• US 7,470,674, entitled “Immunostimulatory Properties of Oligonucleotide-based Compounds Comprising Modified Immunostimulatory Dinucleotides”
• IN 228424, entitled “Synergistic Stimulation of the Immune System Using Immunostimulatory Oligonucleotides and/or Immunomer Compositions in Conjunction with Cytokines and/or Chemotherapeutic Agents or Radiation Therapy”
• KR 10-0875003, entitled “Modulation of Oligonucleotide CpG-mediated Immune Stimulation by Positional Modification of Nucleosides”