ICOS Corporation And Caprion Pharmaceuticals Enter Into Joint Developm

    Business Editors/Health/Medical Writers
    BIOWIRE2K

    BOTHELL, Wash. & MONTREAL, Canada--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 31, 2005--ICOS Corporation (Nasdaq:ICOS) and privately held Caprion Pharmaceuticals Inc. today announced that they have entered into an agreement for the joint development of therapeutic antibodies for the treatment of cancer. The collaboration seeks to accelerate the development of new therapeutic antibodies, providing both parties with promising candidates for independent and joint development.
    Caprion will contribute a selection of proprietary antibody targets and perform certain target characterization activities for the collaboration. ICOS will be responsible for target validation and preclinical development of therapeutic antibodies. Each company will select a predetermined number of promising antibody candidates for independent development.
    The terms of the agreement include an up-front payment and license fees to Caprion, as well as reciprocal milestone payments that are contingent upon the successful completion of milestones by each company, and reciprocal royalty payments. Additionally, the agreement allows for Caprion and ICOS to co-develop and co-promote certain products developed under the collaboration in the event that ICOS exercises an opt-in provision.
    "We are excited about expanding our cancer therapies discovery efforts using the cell-surface targets that Caprion's leading proteomics technology has identified," said W. Michael Gallatin, Ph.D., ICOS Vice President and Scientific Director. "Combined with ICOS' depth in drug development, we believe that this collaboration has the potential to broaden our efforts to deliver new therapies to the patients who need them."
    Martin LeBlanc, Caprion's EVP and Chief Operating Officer stated, "This collaboration accelerates our transition into a fully-integrated drug discovery company and leverages the targets our proteomics platform has generated into development programs that may rapidly reach the clinic."

    About ICOS Corporation

    ICOS Corporation, a biotechnology company headquartered in Bothell, Washington, is dedicated to bringing innovative therapeutics to patients. ICOS is marketing its first product, Cialis(R) (tadalafil), through Lilly ICOS LLC, for the treatment of erectile dysfunction. ICOS is working to develop treatments for serious unmet medical conditions such as benign prostatic hyperplasia, cancer and inflammatory diseases.

    About Caprion Pharmaceuticals

    Caprion is a leading proteomics-based drug discovery company applying CellCarta(R) to discover and develop innovative products for the diagnosis and treatment of disease. Caprion has established therapeutic antibody discovery partnerships with Abbott Laboratories in Lung Cancer, and Biogen IDEC (Nasdaq:BIIB) in Colon Cancer, and pharmaco-proteomic discovery collaborations with Wyeth (NYSE:WYE), AstraZeneca (NYSE:AZN), Merck & Co (NYSE:MRK), and Pfizer (NYSE:PFE). Caprion's partners also include IDEXX Laboratories (Nasdaq:IDXX) and Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics (NYSE:JNJ). Caprion's therapeutic antibodies for the prevention of Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS) resulting from E. coli infection are currently in Phase I clinical trials. For more on Caprion, see www.caprion.com.

    This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause ICOS' results and the timing of certain events to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements, including risks associated with ICOS' product commercialization, manufacturing activities, clinical development, regulatory approvals, intellectual property claims and litigation and other risks detailed in ICOS' latest Annual Report on Form 10-K and its other SEC filings.
    The forward-looking statements contained in this press release represent our judgment as of the date of this release. We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements. The biotechnology and pharmaceutical businesses are risky and there can be no assurance that any of our products or product candidates will achieve commercial success or that competing therapies will not pre-empt market opportunities that might exist for any of our products or product candidates.

--30--LL/se*

CONTACT: ICOS Corporation Lacy Fitzpatrick, 425-415-2207 or Caprion Pharmaceuticals Katherine Bonter, 514-228-3624

KEYWORD: WASHINGTON INTERNATIONAL CANADA INDUSTRY KEYWORD: PHARMACEUTICAL MEDICAL BIOTECHNOLOGY MARKETING AGREEMENTS SOURCE: ICOS Corporation

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