Myogen Announces Extension of Drug Discovery Collaboration

Myogen, Inc. has announced a two-year extension of its research collaboration with Novartis for the discovery and development of novel drugs for the treatment of heart muscle disease.

Under the extension of the collaboration, which began in September 2003, Novartis will provide research funding through October 2008 in exchange for rights to license compounds developed under the collaboration.

The agreement includes milestone payments and royalty payments on sales of products that are successfully commercialized.

Upon the completion of Phase 2 clinical trials of product candidates that Novartis has licensed under the collaboration, Myogen has an option to enter into a co-promotion and profit sharing agreement in the cardiac field in certain markets, subject to Myogen reimbursing Novartis for certain costs incurred through the completion of Phase 2 trials as well as a commensurate portion of future development and marketing costs and the elimination of the associated royalty.

To date, Myogen has achieved three research milestones under the existing collaboration.

In addition, a related collaboration was added in 2005 to include Myogen's histone deacetylase inhibitor program in the field of heart disease.

"We are delighted with the progress made to date under our collaboration agreement and we are pleased to extend the collaboration for an additional two years," said Richard Gorczynski, Ph.D., Senior Vice President, Research & Development, of Myogen, Inc.

"We believe our research programs have significant potential therapeutic value. Through this collaboration, we have an exciting opportunity to advance the discovery and development of novel small molecule compounds for treatment of cardiac diseases."