DR. GARO ARMEN WINS NYC BIOTECH ENTREPRENEUR OF THE YEAR
Color Kinetics Founding Board Member and Antigenics CEO Honored at Ernst & Young Award Banquet
NEW YORK - June 26, 2002 - Antigenics Inc. (Nasdaq: AGEN) today announced that Ernst & Young has awarded the company's chairman and chief executive officer, Garo H. Armen, Ph.D., New York City Biotechnology Entrepreneur of the Year. Dr. Armen is a founding member of Color Kinetics' board of directors.
Dr. Armen was selected as one of 38 regional entrepreneurs who were honored at Ernst & Young's celebration banquet last night in New York. The award honors entrepreneurs for sound financial performance and other criteria such as social responsibility, quality of management and workplace culture.
Dr. Armen founded Antigenics with Pramod Srivastava, Ph.D., in 1994 with the goal of commercializing Dr. Srivastava's discovery that heat shock proteins taken from one's own tumor could provide a powerful new weapon against cancers. Antigenics was one of the first companies worldwide to understand the need for such a patient-specific approach and focused on developing advanced alternatives to conventional treatments for a wide range of diseases.
The company's personalized cancer vaccine, Oncophage®, is currently being evaluated in pivotal Phase III studies for the treatment of kidney cancer and melanoma, and has been granted Fast Track designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in both of these indications. Other clinical research evaluating Oncophage includes studies in several other cancers such as lymphoma, colorectal, pancreatic and stomach cancers. Antigenics is targeting a 2004 launch of its first oncology product.
In addition, through an acquisition of Aronex Pharmaceuticals in July 2001, Antigenics added two liposomal chemotherapeutic products to its cancer portfolio - Aroplatin and ATRA-IV. Phase II trials of Aroplatin in pancreatic and colon cancers will begin this year, as will Phase II research of ATRA-IV in hematological malignancies.
The company is also developing AG-702, a genital herpes vaccine in early clinical testing, and QS-21, an immune adjuvant obtained through acquisition of Aquila Biopharmaceuticals in November 2000 that is being tested in several clinical vaccine programs by leading pharmaceutical partners.
Prior to co-founding Antigenics, Dr. Armen established a money management firm focused on investing in biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. In 1993, he directed a widely publicized transaction - the creation of the Immunex Lederle oncology business - and advised PerSeptive Biosystems in its restructuring. He currently sits on the Board of Directors for Elan Corporation.
Dr. Armen began his career on Wall Street in 1981 as an analyst and investment banker at E.F. Hutton. He subsequently moved to Dean Witter Reynolds as senior vice president of research, leading a team specializing in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries.
He received a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the Graduate Center, City University of New York, and was appointed Research Fellow at Brookhaven National Laboratories in Long Island, N.Y., where his work centered on the fields of photosynthesis and energy production.
Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year
Ernst & Young holds Entrepreneur of the Year competitions in 42 cities throughout the country. All regional winners are then eligible for the overall National Entrepreneur of the Year award. All national finalists and award recipients will be announced in Palm Springs, Calif., on November 23, 2002.
About Antigenics
Antigenics' mission is to enhance and extend human lives through the development of superior health care products for a wide range of cancers, infectious diseases, and autoimmune and degenerative disorders. The company's cancer portfolio includes Oncophage, a personalized cancer vaccine in Phase III trials with FDA Fast Track designation for kidney cancer and melanoma; and two liposomal products in Phase II development: Aroplatin, a third-generation platinum chemotherapeutic, and ATRA-IV, a form of vitamin A. Other products in development include QS-21, an immune adjuvant being tested in several advanced clinical vaccine programs in partnership with leading pharmaceutical companies, and AG-702, a genital herpes immunotherapeutic agent in Phase I testing. For more information about Antigenics, please visit www.antigenics.com.
This press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements regarding the expected timing of commencement of Phase II clinical trials of Aroplatin and ATRA-IV, and the targeted launch date for the company's first oncology product. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in these forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, among others, that the company may be unsuccessful in obtaining the regulatory approvals necessary to conduct additional clinical trials or to market products; that the company may not enroll sufficient numbers of patients in its clinical trials; that the company's clinical trials may fail to demonstrate that its products are both safe and more effective than current standards of care; that the company may not adequately protect its intellectual property or be determined to infringe on the intellectual property of others; and the other factors described in the company's periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Please see Exhibit 99.1 of the company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for a full discussion of these risk factors. We caution investors not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements contained in this document. These statements speak only as of the date of this document, and we undertake no obligation to update or revise the statements. All forward-looking statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement.
About Color Kinetics
Color Kinetics Incorporated is the pioneer of intelligent solid-state illumination technologies. The company designs, manufactures and markets an award-winning line of products that apply the practical and aesthetic benefits of LEDs to transcend the limits of traditional light sources for use in professional, consumer, and OEM and licensing applications. Its flagship line of technologies leverage a patented layer of digital intelligence, called Chromacore®, to generate and control millions of colors and dynamic lighting effects. Color Kinetics leads the industry in solid-state lighting innovation, including the custom engineered Chromasic® microchip, and holds a growing patent portfolio encompassing a number of emerging digital technologies. Founded in 1997, the company is privately held and is headquartered in Boston, MA with offices in the UK, China, and a joint venture in Japan. More information can be found at http://www.colorkinetics.com.
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