Euroscreen Receives Exclusive GPCR License From Virginia

BRUSSELS, Belgium.--Jan. 17, 2001--Euroscreen s.a. today announced an exclusive license agreement with The University of Virginia Patent
Foundation (UVAPF) for CysLT2 technology that was jointly developed at the University of Virginia and the University of Toronto.

The cysteinyl leukotrienes (CysLTs: leukotriene C4, D4 and E4) are lipid mediators known to possess potent proinflammatory action and are important mediators of human bronchial asthma. Pharmacological studies have determined that cystenyl leukotrienes activate at least two receptors, designated CysLT1 and CysLT2. CysLT1 is the molecular target of several anti-asthmatic drugs including montelukast (Singulair TM), zafirlukast (Accolate TM)and pranlukast (Onon TM). The license agreement covers the molecular cloning of CysLT2. A publication in Journal of Biological Chemistry (JBC 2000 275: 30531-30536) showed that this receptor was not the target of classical anti-asthmatic drugs but was however highly expressed in lung macrophages in contrast to CysLT1 expression which is restricted to human lung smooth muscle. In addition, CysLT2 gene was mapped to chromosome 13q14, a region linked to atopic asthma. CysLT2 was also found to be expressed in other tissues containing CysLT1, i.e. peripheral blood leukocytes, placenta, brain, spleen, as well in the adrenal gland and heart where CysLT1 is not expressed. Euroscreen believes that pharmacological characterization of CysLT2 will lead to a better understanding of the pathobiology of the cysteinyl leukotrienes and that specific antagonists for this receptor may have utility in pulmonary, immune, cardiovascular and endocrine diseases. The Company has a research team seeking to identify such drug candidates, but is also willing to sublicense significant research partners to assist in this research.

Euroscreen integrates its world class G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) research capabilities with its patented AequoScreen cellular assay technology to provide new, innovative solutions to GPCR drug discovery with corporate partners as well as its own internal development efforts
which continue lead to important drug leads and patent applications such as our pivotal patent application for the utility of CCR5 for HIV. The Company has corporate partnerships with Solvay, Merck & Co., Nanosyn and UCB as well as licensing agreements with the Brussels University and the University of Georgia Research Foundation. The Company applies its GPCR and ligand technology approaches to deorphanize specific targets and believes that its unique strategy increases the chances of successfully developing commercial products. More information about Euroscreen's products and services can be found at http://www.euroscreen.be.

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