SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. and BRANFORD, Conn., Oct. 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Genentech, Inc. (NYSE: DNA) and CGI Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that they have entered into an exclusive global collaboration agreement to discover, develop, manufacture and commercialize therapeutics for an undisclosed target for the potential treatment of multiple oncology and autoimmune indications.

Under the terms of the multi-year agreement, Genentech makes an upfront payment to CGI of $25 million, comprised of both license fees and an equity investment in CGI. Genentech obtains an exclusive license to discover, develop and market small molecules based on the target throughout the world, except in the states of the European Union. In the EU, CGI retains the right (independently or in conjunction with Genentech) to develop and commercialize potential molecules arising from the collaboration. The agreement includes opportunities for further expansion of the collaboration, with the potential for CGI to receive milestone and option payments in excess of $500 million upon the successful completion of certain development and regulatory milestones. The companies did not disclose further financial terms of the agreement.

"CGI has committed itself to developing a highly novel approach in a very important area of biology," stated Michael Varney, Genentech vice president, Small Molecule Drug Discovery. "This collaboration supports Genentech's goal of aggressively pursuing novel and innovative therapies, small or large molecules, to important oncology or autoimmune diseases."

"We are very pleased to be working with Genentech, as this collaboration is very nicely crafted to take advantage of both parties' expertise," said Peter Fuller, Ph.D., CGI's COO. "The combination of Genentech's expertise in biology and our understanding of the chemistry underlying this target, we believe, provides this program with the potential to bring new therapies to market," added Mark Velleca, MD, Ph.D., CGI's CSO.

About CGI Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

CGI Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (www.cgipharma.com) is a private, development- stage pharmaceutical company that has leveraged its small molecule chemistry and kinase biology expertise to discover and develop an innovative pipeline of small molecule therapeutics for multiple oncology and immunology-based indications. CGI's oncology drug development candidate, cgi1842, targets a unique combination of kinases that are critical for tumor angiogenesis. CGI's corporate headquarters and research laboratories are located in Branford, Connecticut. For additional information about the company, please visit: http://www.cgipharma.com .

About Genentech

Founded 30 years ago, Genentech is a leading biotechnology company that discovers, develops, manufactures and commercializes biotherapeutics for significant unmet medical needs. A considerable number of the currently approved biotechnology products originated from or are based on Genentech science. Genentech manufactures and commercializes multiple biotechnology products and licenses several additional products to other companies. The company has headquarters in South San Francisco, California and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol DNA. For additional information about the company, please visit http://www.gene.com .

    Genentech Media Contact:             Caroline Pecquet   
    Genentech Investor Contact:          Kathee Littrell    
                                         Susan Morris       

    CGI Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Contacts:  Peter Fuller, Ph.D.
                                         Chief Operating Officer
                                         

SOURCE Genentech, Inc.