Regeneron and Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Announce New Antibody Research Agreement

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Sep 24, 2015, 08:30 ET

TARRYTOWN, N.Y. and NEW YORK, Sept. 24, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: REGN) and The Experimental Therapeutics Institute (ETI) at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai today announced that they have entered into an agreement with the goal of accelerating the discovery of fully human antibodies directed against therapeutic targets being researched by Mount Sinai investigators.

Regeneron will provide the ETI with access to VelocImmune^® technology and potential financial support to use the company's proprietary antibody discovery platform to generate antibodies against targets of interest and explore potential therapeutic applications for human disease. ETI will undertake preclinical research, and Regeneron has an exclusive option to negotiate a license to the antibody for future clinical development and commercialization.

"It is through partnerships like this that Mount Sinai remains on the forefront of translational research and therapeutic discoveries, and we hope to soon see the fruits of our collaboration with Regeneron," said Dennis S. Charney, M.D., the Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Dean of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and President for Academic Affairs for the Mount Sinai Health System.

"This agreement brings together Mount Sinai's deep biology and clinical expertise and Regeneron's unique antibody technology," said Drew Murphy, Ph.D., Senior Vice President, Research of Regeneron Laboratories. "Both our organizations are part of the rapidly maturing New York bioscience ecosystem and share a deep commitment to improving human health by pursuing innovative science."

In recent years, monoclonal antibodies have been established as an important new class of drugs, and dozens have been approved by regulatory agencies as therapeutic agents. Monoclonal antibodies are able to disrupt disease pathology by blocking receptors or interfering with cell-to-cell transmission. Developed by Regeneron scientists, VelocImmune is a genetic engineering platform that enables the fast and efficient creation of superior fully human monoclonal antibodies for drug development.

"This collaboration with Regeneron is a unique opportunity to develop medications based on the cutting-edge research at Mount Sinai, ultimately helping to improve health outcomes and quality of life for many people," said Paul Kenny, Ph.D., Ward-Coleman Professor and Chair of the Dorothy H. and Lewis Rosenstiel Department of Pharmacology and Systems Therapeutics at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and the Director of the Experimental Therapeutics Institute.

"Working with Regeneron leverages our understanding of disease biology and technical expertise, and gives our scientists a rapid path towards developing new therapeutic antibody drugs to benefit human health," said Louise Lammers, Ph.D., Associate Director of The Experimental Therapeutics Institute. "We envision this type of academic-industry partnership as representing the future of drug discovery in the U.S."

About the Mount Sinai Health System
The Mount Sinai Health System is an integrated health system committed to providing distinguished care, conducting transformative research, and advancing biomedical education. Structured around seven hospital campuses and a single medical school, the Health System has an extensive ambulatory network and a range of inpatient and outpatient services—from community-based facilities to tertiary and quaternary care.

The System includes approximately 6,100 primary and specialty care physicians; 12 minority-owned free-standing ambulatory surgery centers; more than 140 ambulatory practices throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, Long Island, and Florida; and 31 affiliated community health centers. Physicians are affiliated with the renowned Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, which is ranked among the highest in the nation in National Institutes of Health funding per investigator. The Mount Sinai Hospital is nationally ranked as one of the top 25 hospitals in 8 specialties in the 2014-2015 "Best Hospitals" issue of U.S. News & World Report. Mount Sinai's Kravis Children's Hospital also is ranked in seven out of ten pediatric specialties by U.S. News & World Report. The New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai is ranked nationally, while Mount Sinai Beth Israel, Mount Sinai St. Luke's, and Mount Sinai Roosevelt are ranked regionally.

For more information, visit http://www.mountsinai.org or find Mount Sinai on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

About Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Regeneron (NASDAQ: REGN) is a leading science-based biopharmaceutical company based in Tarrytown, New York that discovers, invents, develops, manufactures, and commercializes medicines for the treatment of serious medical conditions. Regeneron commercializes medicines for high LDL cholesterol, eye diseases, and a rare inflammatory condition and have product candidates in development in other areas of high unmet medical need, including oncology, rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, atopic dermatitis, pain, and infectious diseases. For additional information about the company, please visit www.regeneron.com or follow @Regeneron on Twitter.

Regeneron Forward-Looking Statements and Use of Digital Media
This news release includes forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties relating to future events and the future performance of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ("Regeneron" or the "Company"), and actual events or results may differ materially from these forward-looking statements. Words such as "anticipate," "expect," "intend," "plan," "believe," "seek," "estimate," variations of such words, and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. These statements concern, and these risks and uncertainties include, among others, the nature, timing, and possible success and therapeutic applications of Regeneron's products, product candidates, and research and clinical programs now underway or planned, including without limitation the antibody research agreement with The Experimental Therapeutics Institute at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai discussed in this news release; the extent to which the results from the research programs conducted by Regeneron or its collaborators (including without limitation the research conducted pursuant to the antibody research agreement discussed in this news release) may lead to advancement of product candidates to clinical trials or therapeutic applications; unforeseen safety issues and possible liability resulting from the administration of products and product candidates in patients; serious complications or side effects in connection with the use of Regeneron's products and product candidates in clinical trials; ongoing regulatory obligations and oversight impacting Regeneron's marketed products, research and clinical programs, and business; determinations by regulatory and administrative governmental authorities which may delay or restrict Regeneron's ability to continue to develop or commercialize Regeneron's products and product candidates; the likelihood, timing, and scope of possible regulatory approval and commercial launch of Regeneron's late-stage product candidates and new indications for marketed products; competing drugs and product candidates that may be superior to Regeneron's products and product candidates; uncertainty of market acceptance and commercial success of Regeneron's products and product candidates and the impact of studies (whether conducted by Regeneron or others and whether mandated or voluntary) on the commercial success of Regeneron's products and product candidates; the ability of Regeneron to manufacture and manage supply chains for multiple products and product candidates; coverage and reimbursement determinations by third-party payers, including Medicare and Medicaid; unanticipated expenses; the costs of developing, producing, and selling products; the ability of Regeneron to meet any of its sales or other financial projections or guidance and changes to the assumptions underlying those projections or guidance; the potential for any license or collaboration agreement, including Regeneron's agreements with Sanofi and Bayer HealthCare LLC, to be cancelled or terminated without any further product success; and risks associated with intellectual property of other parties and pending or future litigation relating thereto. A more complete description of these and other material risks can be found in Regeneron's filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2014 and its Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended June 30, 2015. Any forward-looking statements are made based on management's current beliefs and judgment, and the reader is cautioned not to rely on any forward-looking statements made by Regeneron. Regeneron does not undertake any obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statement, including without limitation any financial projection or guidance, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

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