Telios Pharmaceuticals

Executive Summary

Ono Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. (Osaka) acquires "significant equity investment" and is supplying "several million dollars" to privately held San Diego-based R&D firm to develop Transforming Growth Factor-beta-based drugs. Ono will fund R&D and clinical testing of TGFb drugs that block "abnormal tissue scarring involved in kidney inflammation, pulmonary fibrosis, liver cirrhosis and other fibrotic disorders" in return for marketing rights in Japan, Taiwan and South Korea. Telios retains rights elsewhere. Agreement also gives Ono first right of refusal in the same countries for all other Telios human drug products -- excluding firm's blood-clot inhibitors and (ITALICS)Telio-derm(END ITALICS) wound healing gel ("The Pink Sheet" Aug. 13, T&G-9). Ono already has Asian license for Telios' "dry eye" product (ITALICS)Oculos,(END ITALICS) which is in development.