BioWorld International Correspondent

PARIS - Under a licensing agreement signed last week, Genset SA granted Ricerca Biosciences LLC exclusive worldwide rights to all therapeutic applications of the full-length genomic sequences of Chlamydia pneumoniae and Chlamydia trachomatis, two common infectious agents, for which the Paris-based genomics company holds patents.

Ricerca Biosciences, of Concord, Ohio, will own the rights to all anti-infective drugs developed as a result of the deal and, in return, Genset will receive an undisclosed quantity of Ricerca Biosciences stock and milestone payments corresponding to patent applications filed and development stages reached, as well as royalties from any drugs developed or co-developed by Ricerca as a result of the agreement.

On the strength of its access to Genset's intellectual property, Ricerca Biosciences is developing therapeutics targeted at Chlamydia. Ricerca's CEO, Prabhavathi Fernandes, pointed out that recent discoveries had "established a strong link between Chlamydia infection and atherosclerosis," adding that the development of drugs specifically targeted at Chlamydia could be used to treat chronic cardiovascular diseases. Ricerca's current drug development programs are focused on anti-infectives and oncology.

Chlamydia pneumoniae and Chlamydia trachomatis are responsible for a wide range of human diseases, many of which represent large, untapped markets. C. trachomatis infection is the most common sexually transmitted disease in the United States, for instance, and also is a widespread infectious cause of blindness worldwide. As for C. pneumoniae, it is the third most common cause of acute respiratory disease and is implicated in a variety of cardiovascular diseases besides atherosclerosis.

Ricerca aims to develop new drugs as alternatives to broad-spectrum antibiotics, which can be used to treat acute infections but are not recommended for the treatment of chronic diseases due to the risk of drug resistance.

Meanwhile, Genset, which is currently the object of a friendly takeover bid from the Geneva-based biotechnology company Serono SA, has posted a consolidated net profit of €10.3 million for the second quarter of 2002, in sharp contrast to the losses it normally reports. Given that the company earned no revenues during the period, the result is entirely attributable to the sale of two assets. One was its oligonucleotides business, for which it received an initial payment of €21.9 million in April (followed by a further €7.1 million in early July), and the other was its shareholding in the Los Angeles-based plant genomics company Ceres, which it sold for €10.9 million. As of June 30, Genset had cash and cash equivalents of €28 million, up from €21.7 million at the end of December.