ChemBridge Corporation Enters Combinatorial Chemistry Agreement with Roche

SAN DIEGO (PROTEXT) - ChemBridge Corporation announced today that it has entered into a three-year agreement to provide Roche with access to ChemBridge's new PHARMACore(TM) combinatorial lead discovery library. Under the terms of this agreement the library will be provided on a non-exclusive basis to all six Roche research centers in Switzerland, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The PHARMACore(TM) library, developed by ChemBridge during 1997-1999 and just launched, represents the most advanced available new generation of combinatorial libraries. This high- value-added library has been designed from the ground-up to meet the requirements of the most demanding end-user, and with its built-in hit-to-lead capabilities can streamline the whole process of screening-based drug discovery from initial hit to clinical drug candidate. The library is based on ChemBridge's chemistry-focused technology platform which enables design and parallel synthesis in large mg amounts of diverse, novel, chemically complex, highly pure and 100% individually quality controlled 'drug-like' small molecules that possess characteristics which are the most desirable from the medicinal chemistry prospective. Among the cornerstones of ChemBridge's proprietary chemistry platform are its exclusive in-house custom template and intermediate collection, as well as its extensive and growing PHARMABlocks(TM) collection of custom combinatorial building blocks. ChemBridge's proprietary building block collection is one of the largest in the pharmaceutical industry. It has been partially co-developed with several major partners including eight out of the top ten world's largest pharmaceutical companies. Access to these diverse building blocks, not available from any commercial sources, adds a critical difference and value to the PHARMACore(TM) lead discovery library. This offers unique opportunities to explore novel areas of chemical and pharmacophore space as well as to accelerate hit follow-up and lead optimization projects, leading to new chemical entities of therapeutic importance. Dr. Michael Schultz, Head of Chemical Technologies and Member of the Research Executive of Roche Pharmaceuticals, stated, "After extensive assessment of ChemBridge's specific chemistry and technology capabilities we are convinced that the PHARMACore(TM) combinatorial library is exceptionally well suited to complement our internal efforts." Eugene F. Vaisberg, President and CEO of ChemBridge Corporation said, "We are delighted that a company of such a caliber and scientific reputation as Roche has become the first major corporate partner that gets access to our newest, and the most advanced lead discovery tool-PHARMACore(TM) combinatorial library. I believe that this unique library will make its valuable contribution to Roche's immense globally coordinated efforts to discover new drug leads via state-of-the-art high- throughput and ultra high-throughput screening technologies." "The Roche agreement, which involved significant evaluation via world class scientific expertise, represents the best possible validation of the chemical technology present in our PHARMACore(TM) library," added Dr. Thomas R. Webb, Director of Chemical Services and Business Development at ChemBridge and Head of ChemBridge's Combinatorial Chemistry Research Committee. "We are very pleased that the efforts of so many who have worked on the development of this library are being recognized." ChemBridge Corporation (www.chembridge.com) headquartered in San Diego, CA, is a leading global provider of advanced chemical tools for high-throughput drug discovery, serving around 150 pharmaceutical, agricultural and biotech companies and research centers worldwide. ChemBridge's historical compound collections for HTS, such as DIVERSet(TM), have set a benchmark of innovation and quality and have proven their utility in numerous client's lead generation programs. These products allowed ChemBridge to gain a position of the world's largest provider of compound collections for screening. ChemBridge's advanced combinatorial chemistry capabilities, developed since 1997 and recently introduced to the market, include, besides PHARMACore(TM) library, custom combinatorial libraries and also structure-based target libraries in alliance with Protherics (formerly Proteus) PLC. Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Roche is one of the world's leading healthcare groups in the field of pharmaceuticals, diagnostics, vitamins and fragrances and flavors. Roche's products and services address all stages of individual health maintenance and disease management, including prevention, diagnosis and treatment, thus enhancing people's well being and quality of life. CONTACT: Eugene F. Vaisberg, President and CEO of ChemBridge Corporation, 858-451-7400, ext. 11 ots Original Text Service: ChemBridge Corporation Internet: http://www.newsaktuell.de Contact: Eugene F. Vaisberg, President and CEO of ChemBridge Corporation, 858-451-7400, ext. 11 Web site: http://www.chembridge.com Subscribers please note that material bearing the slug "PROTEXT" is not part of CTK's news service and is not to be published under the "CTK" slug. Protext is a commercial service providing distribution of press releases from clients, who are identified in the text of Protext reports and who bear full responsibility for their contents. PROTEXT