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Helsinn Healthcare SA

Helsinn grant to the Institute of Research in Biomedicine, Bellinzona, Switzerland

Lugano (ots)

Helsinn, the chemical pharmaceutical group based in
Lugano and Biasca is pleased to announce today that it has awarded a
grant for the sum of CHF 30'000 to the Institute of Research in
Biomedicine (IRB) in Bellinzona, under the direction of Prof. Dr.
Antonio Lanzavecchia. The grant will be used for research work
performed by Prof. Markus Manz, in the field of haematopoesis,
focused on the study in blood stem cells, the development and
pathologies of the hemato-lymphoid system.
"We believe that Prof. Manz's work will help to better understand
the characteristics of certain diseases and therefore potentially
develop targeted drugs", said Riccardo Braglia, Helsinn's Chief
Executive Officer. Prof. Manz manages the IRB haematology laboratory
and works as haematologist at the Oncology Institute of Southern
Switzerland (IOSI). He has received the Artur Pappenheim award of the
German society of Haematology and Oncology. The IRB researchers work
to enhance the knowledge of the human immune system. In particular,
host defense mechanisms against infective, neurodegenerative and
cancer diseases are studied.
The IRB researchers have developed several programmes which have
the potential of being translated into new therapies. Prof. Manz and
his colleagues have demonstrated that mice reconstituted with a human
hemato-lymphatic system can be used as experimental model to study
human pathologies. As previously done three years ago with IOSI,
Helsinn continues to support valid medical-scientific research
currently on-going in the Ticinese territory so as to tighten a
network of relationships of a high scientific standard for the
patient's benefit. The financial grant to the IRB helps support the
activity of a young researcher. The Institute of Research of
Biomedicine in Bellinzona The Institute of Research of Biomedicine
(IRB) opened in Bellinzona in Spring 2000 is a private, non-profit
Foundation. The two buildings, situated in Vincenzo Vela road and
Murate road, house 75 researchers who work in nine research groups.
The buildings offer 2,000 square meters of laboratories.
The IRB strives to contribute to the progress of biomedical
research by studying basic mechanisms of immune defense against
pathogenic agents and tumors, and to find new approaches to
diagnostics and therapy. Basic aspects of cell biology and protein
structure are also studied. The IRB organizes seminars, scientific
meetings and discussion groups. Moreover, the IRB provides support
and training for graduate students from Switzerland and foreign
countries. In only a few years of activity, the institute has
succeeded in becoming a centre of excellence in research worldwide.
The IRB receives financial support from the city of Bellinzona,
the Canton of Ticino, the Swiss Confederation, from the Helmut Horten
Foundation and from generous private donations. Approximately half of
the costs are supported by grants, that is, funding from Swiss and
international agencies obtained directly by the researchers. The
Helsinn Group Helsinn is a privately owned pharmaceutical group with
headquarters in Lugano, Switzerland and subsidiaries in Ireland and
USA. Helsinn's unique business model is focused on the licensing of
pharmaceuticals and medical devices in therapeutic niche areas. The
Group in-licenses early stage new chemical entities, completes their
development from the performance of pre-clinical/clinical studies and
Chemistry, Manufacturing and Control (CMC) development, to the filing
for and attainment of their market approval worldwide.
Helsinn's products are sold directly through the Group
subsidiaries or eventually out-licensed to its network of local
marketing and commercial partners, selected for their deep in-market
knowledge and know-how, and assisted and supported with a full range
of product and scientific management services, including commercial,
regulatory, financial, legal and medical marketing advice. The active
pharmaceutical ingredients and the finished dosage forms are
manufactured at Helsinn's cGMP facilities in Switzerland and Ireland,
and supplied worldwide to its customers. Helsinn is the worldwide
licensor of palonosetron a second generation 5-HT3 receptor
antagonist, for the prevention of chemotherapy-induced nausea and
vomiting (CINV) and of post-operative nausea and vomiting (PONV) in
patients with cancer, and of the original nimesulide, a non-steroidal
anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) distributed in more than 50 countries
worldwide.
Helsinn, with a workforce of 430 employees in Switzerland and
Ireland, reports an expected 2008 turnover of approximately 280
million CHF covering 75 countries worldwide, with over 20% of this
turnover invested in R&D.

Contact:

Helsinn Healthcare SA
Dott. Riccardo Braglia
Amministratore Delegato, Gruppo Helsinn
Chief Executive Officer, Helsinn Group
Tel.: +41/91/985'21'21
E-Mail: PBO@helsinn.com

Institute of Research in Biomedicine (IRB)
Prof. Dr. Antonio Lanzavecchia
Direttore/Director, IRB
Tel.: +41/91/820'03'00
E-Mail: info@irb.unisi.ch

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Plus de actualités: Helsinn Healthcare SA