Reata pushes anticancer compound onto the world stage

Reata Pharmaceuticals has completed a license agreement with the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas (UT Southwestern) and Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand (VU), which provides it with exclusive worldwide rights to a promising new class of anticancer compounds.

It will pay $37 in cash for each share of TKT common stock, or approximately $1.6bn, representing a 44% premium to $25.77, which is the last four week average of TKT's closing share price. Closing of the transaction, expected in the third quarter of 2005, is subject to, among other things, regulatory clearance and approval of the stockholders of both companies.

The combined company will be a diversified business with small molecule drugs and protein therapeutics, and will be positioned to build on each company's commercial capabilities by employing small, focused sales forces to work with specialist physicians.

TKT offers significant expertise in the discovery, development, manufacturing and marketing of protein therapeutics, and has the prospect of three commercial products in 2006. It currently sells Replagal (agalsidase alfa), its enzyme replacement therapy for the treatment of Fabry disease; and intends to introduce Dynepo (epoetin delta), its Gene- Activated erythropoietin product for the treatment of anemia associated with renal disease, in the EU in the first half of 2006.

Recent developments include the completion of a pivotal Phase III clinical trial evaluating iduronate-2-sulfatase (I2S), an enzyme replacement therapy for the treatment of Hunter syndrome.

TKT also announced that Michael J. Astrue, its ceo, has resigned as an officer and as a director of the company. Its board of directors appointed David D. Pendergast, Ph.D. - previously chief operating officer of the company - to replace him with immediate effect.