Exhibit 99.1
Contacts :
Richard D. Katz, M.D.
EVP, Finance and Corporate
Development;
Chief Financial Officer
Icagen, Inc.
(919) 941-5206
rkatz@icagen.com
ICAGEN ANNOUNCES
SECOND
RENEWAL OF PFIZER
COLLABORATION
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC,
September 23, 2010 – Icagen, Inc. (NASDAQ: ICGND) today
announced an additional extension through December 2011 to an
existing worldwide collaboration and licensing agreement with
Pfizer aimed at discovering, developing and commercializing
compounds that modify three specific sodium ion channels as new
potential treatments for pain and related disorders.
For the past three years, Icagen and
Pfizer have partnered to identify compounds that target three
specific sodium ion channels in a global research and development
collaboration overseen by a joint research committee. These sodium
channels are important in the generation of electrical signals in
nerve fibers that mediate the initiation, transmission and
sensation of pain. By selectively targeting these ion channels, the
companies seek to develop effective treatments for serious pain
disorders.
During the extension period, Pfizer
will continue to fund all aspects of the collaboration including
research efforts at both companies and all clinical development
costs. Pfizer also will continue to have exclusive worldwide rights
to commercialize products resulting from the collaboration. Under
the terms of the extended agreement, Pfizer will provide
approximately $5 million in committed funding to Icagen through
December 2011. Additionally, Icagen remains eligible to receive
approximately $359 million upon achievement of specified research,
development, regulatory and commercialization milestones for each
product. Icagen is also eligible to receive tiered royalties,
against which the commercialization milestones are creditable,
based upon product sales.
“We are very pleased to
announce this extension of our collaboration with Pfizer,”
noted P. Kay Wagoner, Ph.D., President and CEO of Icagen.
“The collaboration has made substantial progress, as
highlighted by the recent initiation of clinical studies with
compounds directed against Nav1.7. In addition, we continue to make
progress in identifying additional compounds targeting the sodium
channels that form the basis for the collaboration. Pfizer
has
