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EXHIBIT 99.1
[AURORA BIOSCIENCES CORPORATION LOGO]
Aurora Biosciences Corporation
Contact: Doug Farrell 11010 Torreyana Road
Senior Director, Investor Relations & San Diego, CA 92121
Corporate Communications
E-mail: [email protected] Phone: (858) 404-6767
Website: http://www.aurorabio.com Fax: (858) 404-6714
AURORA BIOSCIENCES ACQUIRES QUORUM SCIENCES
- EXPANDS DISCOVERY CAPABILITIES TO INCLUDE ANTIMICROBIALS -
SAN DIEGO (OCTOBER 20, 2000) -- Aurora Biosciences Corporation (Nasdaq: ABSC)
and Quorum Sciences, Inc. today announced that Aurora has acquired Quorum
Sciences for 81,287 shares of Aurora common stock. The merger will be accounted
for using the pooling-of-interests method.
Quorum Sciences is a leader in understanding the basis for microorganism
defenses and infection, such as the rapidly emerging area of biofilms. Quorum
Sciences has significant expertise in the discovery of novel targets from
bacteria and the ability to identify lead compounds that inhibit chemical
signaling pathways between microorganisms for therapeutic and industrial
applications. Quorum has ongoing research agreements with the Cystic Fibrosis
Foundation and a well-known commercial entity.
"The acquisition of Quorum Sciences and its proprietary technologies positions
Aurora as a leader in the important area of biofilm inhibitors and antimicrobial
target identification," said Stuart J. M. Collinson, Ph.D., Aurora's chairman,
chief executive officer and president. "Our expansion into this emerging area is
particularly exciting in light of our own drug discovery efforts with the Cystic
Fibrosis Foundation focused on respiratory diseases. We believe this acquisition
fits nicely with our overall strategy of expanding our discovery capabilities
while focusing on technologies that already have a proven scientific, and more
importantly, commercialization record."
"The combination of Aurora and Quorum Sciences represents a unique opportunity
to make a significant impact in the area of antimicrobial therapeutics," said E.
Peter Greenberg, Ph.D., chief scientific officer of Quorum Sciences and a
professor at the University of Iowa. Dr. Greenberg is a recognized expert in
biofilms. He continues, "Combining Quorum Science's expertise in biofilms with
Aurora's discovery capabilities, ranging from assay and screening technologies
to its 500,000 compound library, will create an unique process for identifying
novel targets, and screening and discovering antimicrobials. This is great news
for pharmaceutical companies wishing to fill their pipelines with antimicrobial
therapeutics." Following the merger, Dr. Greenberg will be an exclusive
consultant for Aurora.
Robert J. Beall, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer of the Cystic
Fibrosis Foundation, commented, "Aurora's acquisition of Quorum Sciences, coming
within six months of our major cystic fibrosis alliance with Aurora,
demonstrates Aurora's ability to rapidly integrate new, innovative technologies
into their discovery alliance model in order to attack a disease area from
different target and therapeutic angles. Ultimately, their multi-pronged
approach will increase the probability of success in expanding therapeutic
pipelines for significant diseases, such as cystic fibrosis, regardless of the
specific types of targets involved."
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Page 1 Aurora Biosciences
October 20, 2000
Quorum Sciences is a leader in assay development for quorum sensing and biofilms
in microorganisms. Quorum sensing is the ability of microorganisms to organize
in the presence of signals secreted by such microorganisms. A biofilm is a
protective coating formed by organized microorganisms to shield themselves from
antibiotics and the host's natural defenses. Biofilms are commonly found in
infections, particularly in cystic fibrosis, and infections associated with
medical devices, such as catheters.
Aurora designs, develops and commercializes advanced drug discovery
technologies, services and systems to accelerate the discovery of new medicines.
Aurora's core technologies include a broad portfolio of proprietary fluorescence
assay technologies, including its GeneBLAzer(TM) and VIPR(TM) technologies, its
functional genomics GenomeScreen(TM) program, its automated master compound
store, the AMCS, and its ultra-high throughput screening system (UHTSS(TM)
Platform) and subsystems to miniaturize and automate drug screening and
profiling assays derived from those technologies. Aurora's technologies have
been commercially validated by over 15 major life sciences companies and
research organizations, including American Home Products, Bristol-Myers Squibb
Co., Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Eli Lilly & Co., Families of SMA, Glaxo
Wellcome, Genentech, Inc., Johnson & Johnson, Merck & Co., Inc., NV Organon
Laboratories, Pfizer, Inc., and Warner-Lambert Company, in the form of
commercialization agreements for discovery services, licenses or systems. For
additional information on Aurora's services and products, please contact Sales
and Marketing via email at [email protected].
Statements in this press release that are not strictly historical are
"forward-looking" statements which involve a high degree of technological and
competitive risks and uncertainties that exist in Aurora's operations and
business environment. Such statements are only predictions and Aurora's actual
events or results may differ materially from those projected in such
forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to
differences include risks associated with Aurora's new and uncertain technology,
dependence on pharmaceutical and biotechnology collaborations, and the
development or availability of competing systems. These factors and others are
more fully described in Aurora's Annual Report on Form 10-K/A for the fiscal
year ended December 31, 1999, and subsequent Form 10-Qs, as filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission. Aurora assumes no obligation to update any
forward-looking statements. For additional corporate information, visit the
Aurora website at http://www.aurorabio.com.
GeneBLAzer(TM), GenomeScreen(TM), UHTSS(R) and VIPR(TM) are trademarks of Aurora
Biosciences Corporation.
