Elixir Pharmaceuticals Licenses Novel Growth Hormone Secretagogue Comp

    Business Editors/Health/Medical Writers

    CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 28, 2005--Elixir Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today an exclusive license agreement with Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE:BMY) for worldwide development and commercialization rights to Bristol-Myers Squibb's growth hormone secretagogue (GHS), BMS-604992, and five related compounds. BMS-604992 is a novel, orally available compound that stimulates the body's release of growth hormone.
    "Given our focus on building a fully integrated biopharmaceutical company by developing and commercializing new drugs for metabolic disorders, the GHS program is a natural fit for Elixir," said William K. Heiden, Elixir's President and Chief Executive Officer. "This compound has the potential to be used in treating a number of important diseases including HIV-associated lipodystrophy and growth disorders due to chronic growth hormone deficiency. BMS-604992 enters our pipeline with a well-established preclinical profile and we look forward to rapidly advancing this compound into Phase I trials."
    Under the terms of the agreement, Elixir will pay to Bristol-Myers Squibb an upfront license fee comprised of cash and stock, development-based milestone payments and royalties should the compound receive regulatory approval for commercialization. Additional financial terms were not disclosed.
    BMS-604992 is a compound which mimics the body's endogenous growth hormone secretagogue, ghrelin, by binding to the GHS receptor resulting in the release of growth hormone. Since growth hormone controls human growth and development, growth hormone deficiency can lead to small-for-gestational-age children and contribute to the degenerative changes that occur in the cardiovascular, muscular and central nervous systems of the elderly. Growth hormone therapies have also shown promise in several other acute and chronic conditions.
    "While many patients with growth hormone deficiencies and related disorders can successfully be treated with growth hormone replacement regimens, this approach is costly and its clinical use is limited since the hormone cannot be delivered orally," said Bard Geesaman, M.D., Ph.D., Elixir's Vice President, Medical Development. "We believe that this orally acting GHS agonist has the potential to enhance the body's own growth hormone-releasing pattern, thus giving it a wide range of potential therapeutic applications."

    About Elixir

    Elixir Pharmaceuticals is a biopharmaceutical company focused on exploiting its Optimal Aging scientific platform to discover, develop, and market new drugs for the treatment and prevention of metabolic disorders, as well as the prevention of age-related diseases. The Company's research and discovery programs are based on a unique understanding of the genetics and biochemical pathways of aging. More information about Elixir is available at www.elixirpharm.com.

--30--SS/ny*

CONTACT: Elixir Pharmaceuticals Alan Watson, PhD, MBA, 617-995-7000 Chief Business Officer awatson@elixirpharm.com or Burns McClellan For Media: Justin Jackson, 212-213-0006 jjackson@burnsmc.com For Investors: Jonathan M. Nugent, 212-213-0006 jnugent@burnsmc.com

KEYWORD: MASSACHUSETTS INDUSTRY KEYWORD: PHARMACEUTICAL BIOTECHNOLOGY PRODUCT MARKETING AGREEMENTS SOURCE: Elixir Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Copyright Business Wire 2005