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04. 02. 10. - 12:00

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04. 02. 10. - 12:00

GSK to pay €236mn for Apeiron enzyme

Pharmaceutical firm GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) is pay small Vienna pharmaceutical firm Apeiron 236 million Euros for the rights to use an enzyme, it was reported today (Thurs).

GSK said it would pay the sum at the current pound/Euro exchange rate for the right to use the enzyme APN01 in medicines.

GSK will also acquire a 14-per-cent interest in Apeiron. GSK will pay Apeiron in British pounds.

Apeiron will also receive 20 per cent of the turnover from sales of medicines containing the enzyme that are expected to start occurring in eight to 10 years.

Apeiron founder and chief Josef Penninger, 45, from Gurten, Upper Austria, said he had never dreamt of such success, calling it "fantastic" what a team of 14 people could do.

Penninger, who had previously done research work in the USA and Canada, founded Apeiron in 2003 using 6.7 million Euros provided by co-owners.

Apeiron board chairman Hans Loimer said the firm would use the money for new projects, including some focused on cancer therapy.

Penninger also became head of the Austrian Institute for Molecular Biology in 2003.

Austrian Times

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