ROCHE, Baylor Research Institute partner in human immunology research

Dec 2 2010

Baylor Research Institute (BRI), the research arm of Baylor Health Care System, announced today that it has formed a three-year partnership with Roche (SIX: RO, ROG; OTCQX: RHHBY) to jointly develop programs emerging from the human immunology platforms developed at the Baylor Institute for Immunology Research (BIIR), a component of BRI.

These programs will leverage BIIR’s leading position in human immunology with particular focus on cancer vaccines, auto-immune disease diagnostics and treatment, proprietary platforms in biosignature^[1] and antibody development, with a view at identifying new leads that could be in-licensed by Roche. A Joint Research Committee will determine the most promising projects in that context, to be funded by Roche over a three-year period.

BRI will retain sole responsibility for programs outside the jointly developed projects.

“The worldwide reputation in human immunology established by Jacques Banchereau^[1] and his team over the years and the uniqueness of some of their programs clearly fit Roche’s strategic discovery plans for novel approaches in diagnosing and treating diseases where our company wants to expand its franchise,” said Jean-Jacques Garaud, MD., Head of Roche Pharma Research & Early Development (pRED).

“The partnership with a world leader such as Roche will help tremendously in accelerating the translation of our leading innovative science in human immunology, into diagnostics and treatments that will benefit patients worldwide,” said Michael A.E. Ramsay, MD., FRCA, president of BRI.

About BRI: Established in 1984 in Dallas, Texas, Baylor Research Institute (BRI) promotes and supports research to bring innovative treatments from the laboratory workbench to the patient bedside. To achieve this bench-to-bedside concept, BRI focuses on basic science, clinical trials, healthcare effectiveness and quality of care research.

Today, BRI is conducting more than 800 active research protocols with 250 research investigators, spanning more than 20 medical specialties, and has research and development projects in areas ranging from human immunology and orphan metabolic diseases to diabetes, cardio-vascular disease and many other unmet medical needs. Its Personalized Medicine arm offers a unique platform for identifying micro-array-based Fingerprint signatures.

The Baylor Health Care System offers to its research affiliate a unique access to one of the largest patient base potentially available for research in the US, within a single institution. BRI has received full accreditation from AAHRPP. www.baylorhealth.edu/Research/

[1] A biosignature is a set of biological markers (DNA, mRNA, protein, metabolites, etc.), or biomarkers, that collectively reflects a biological state.  A biosignature can: (1) show whether or not a person is healthy, (2) enable diagnosis and prognosis, and (3) show whether a therapy is safe and effective.

[2]Jacques Banchereau is Senior Vice President, Head of the Inflammation and Virology Discovery and Translational Areas and Chief Scientific Officer at Roche (formerly the Director at BIIR).