EUROSCREEN AWARDED EUROPEAN PATENT COVERING HIGH-THROUGHPUT SCREENING METHOD USING APOAEQUORIN

Euroscreen SA, a world leader in G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), today announced the issue of a European patent which further protects its useful high-throughput screening platform called AequoScreen. The claims are related to a widely used diagnostic and screening method of modulators for any GPCR, calcium-coupled channel or any other calcium–coupled protein.

High-throughput screening method for a calcium-coupled receptor

Brussels, Belgium 5 February 2003 – Euroscreen SA, a world leader in G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), today announced the issue of a European patent which further protects its useful high-throughput screening platform called AequoScreen. The claims are related to a widely used diagnostic and screening method of modulators for any GPCR, calcium-coupled channel or any other calcium–coupled protein.

The EP patent 1 145 002 B1 relates in particular to a screening method for modulators for calcium-coupled proteins by measuring the intracellular calcium. The order of addition of reagents is reversed compared to what is classically done. In this new method, cells expressing apoaequorin or any other related protein and calcium-coupled protein are incubated with a cofactor (coelenterazine) needed for the detection of intracellular calcium. Subsequently, aliquots of cells to be assayed are added to the compounds expected to be modulators for the target proteins. Finally, the activity of modulators are measured via an aequorin signal, a unique tool for the search of natural or surrogate ligands for any calcium coupled-protein.

Euroscreen already has the worldwide exclusive license on additional patents which cover apoaequorin gene for use in cell-based assays from the University of Georgia Research Foundation, Inc..

Issuance of equivalent patent applications in United States, Japan and Canada is expected in the near future with pending claims in these applications relating to the same subject matter as in the European patent .

Commenting on the announcement, Dr. Vincent Dupriez, Head of Molecular Biology and co-inventor of this method, said: This protocol permits higher throughputs, saves in the cost of reagents, plastic ware, and greatly decreases the handling time. It also eliminates the need to grow adherent cells on assay plates, consequently eliminating the need for damaging wash procedures prior the assay, and therefore offers clear advantages in terms of the requirement for incubators for cell culture."

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For further information, please contact:

Euroscreen SA                   

Pierre Nokin, Ph.D.               
President and CEO                
Tel: +32 2 529 0011
pnokin@euroscreen.be               

Alfred Gray, Ph.D.
Vice President, Business Development
Tel: +1 972 462 0761
Algray@euroscreen.be

About Euroscreen SA

Euroscreen is a world leader in G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs). The Company integrates its research expertise in this area with its patented high-throughput AequoScreen cellular assay platform to patent new GPCR targets and drug candidates

The Company is building its own patent portfolio of GPCR targets and novel drug leads for licensing to biopharmaceutical companies, and to date has agreements with Alchemia, Galapagos Genomics, Merck & Co, Nanosyn, Pfizer Inc, Solvay, Sosei, Syngenta and UCB. Euroscreen has also established collaborations with academic centres, such as Brussels University, INSERM, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, the University of Georgia Research Foundation, the University of Virginia Patent Foundation and the University of Toronto, for access to additional rights needed for its GPCR-based products (recombinant cell lines and membrane preparations) and services (custom screening and cloning).

Euroscreen is a privately held company based in Brussels, Belgium and currently has 80 employees of which 50 are in R&D.

More information can be found at www.euroscreen.com