Cellzome AG Receives First Milestone Payment for Alzheimer's Program from Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical, Inc.

BOSTON, Massachusetts, March 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Cellzome Inc. announced today that it has received the first milestone payment for its Gamma Secretase Modulator (GSM) program in connection with the selection of a lead compound by Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical, Inc. under its agreement with Cellzome. Ortho-McNeil entered into a collaboration and license agreement with Cellzome in May 2005 and the collaboration was extended for a further year in January 2007.

Tim Edwards, Cellzome's CEO, said: "I am delighted with the progress we have made in our collaboration. This milestone payment is a reflection of the continued productivity of Cellzome's drug discovery group in working with our collaborator to advance toward preclinical development a potential oral therapeutic for patients with Alzheimer's disease, and further demonstrates the utility of our leading chemical proteomics technology."