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EXHIBIT 99.1
[BIOTRANSPLANT INCORPORATED LOGO]
BioTransplant Incorporated (ticker: BTRN, exchange: NASDAQ) News Release -
26-Sep-2000
Novartis Pharma AG and BioTransplant Create New Xenotransplantation Research
Company
CHARLESTOWN, Mass., September 26/PRNewswire/--Novartis Pharma AG and
BioTransplant Incorporated (Nasdaq: BTRN-NEWS) announced today that they are to
join forces to further develop their already substantial individual technology
bases in xenotransplantation. While both companies have made significant
scientific contributions to the field individually, Novartis Pharma AG and
BioTransplant believe that they can achieve greater success in moving
xenotransplantation to the clinic by combining their expertise, along with that
of Imutran Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Novartis Pharma AG, into one,
independent company which is fully focused on the science and safety of
xenotransplantation. Xenotransplantation has the potential to provide a lifeline
for the thousands of people waiting for an organ transplant, many of whom will
die before an organ becomes available.
The new company, whose research activities will be based in Boston, USA begins
operations on January 1, 2001. Julia Greenstein, currently BioTransplant's Chief
Scientific Officer, will head up the new company. Key personnel from Imutran and
BioTransplant will lead the research program. Corinne Savill, currently COO of
Imutran, and Elliott Lebowitz, CEO of BioTransplant, will be members of the
Board of Directors. The share base of the Company will be owned 67% by Novartis
and 33% by BioTransplant. In return for contributing its technology and
financial support, Novartis retains the rights to commercialization of research
from the new company. In return for contributing its technology, BioTransplant
will receive royalty payments from Novartis sales. BioTransplant will
independently continue with its work on tolerance induction in
allotransplantation.
Commenting on the establishment of the company, Julie Greenstein said:
"BioTransplant and Novartis have been looking at different but complementary
ways of overcoming the rejection hurdles in xenotransplantation. The combination
of Novartis' expertise in immunosuppression and transgenic pigs with
BioTransplant's tolerance induction program and inbred miniature swine, will
provide a leading platform on which to further develop this potentially
life-saving technology."
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Paul Herrling, Head of Global Research, Novartis said: "From a scientific and
business prospective, this move makes sense for both companies and provides a
great opportunity to maximize our complementary technologies. By joining the two
approaches together, we hope to bring forward the day when xenotransplantation
will become a clinical reality. Novartis is committed to research in
xenotransplantation as part of its long term program to deliver new solutions to
the world wide organ donor shortage."
Elliott Lebowitz, CEO of BioTransplant commented: "We have had a long and
fruitful collaboration with Novartis in xenotransplantation for more than eight
years. The new company is an opportunity for the two companies to gain the
benefits of focusing more intensely on the synergies of their
xenotransplantation research programs, while allowing BioTransplant to
strengthen its focus on the AlloMune(TM) family of products."
The foregoing press release contains forward-looking statements that involve
known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the
actual results to be materially different from any future results, performance,
or achievements expressed or implied by such statements. There can be no
assurance that the scientific and ethical issues presently preventing
xenotransplantation to move to clinical trials can be overcome through this
collaboration, or that xenotransplantation products will enter clinical trials,
that initial clinical trial results will be predictive of any future results,
that any such products will be subject to filings for regulatory approval, that
any such products will receive marketing approval from the regulatory
authorities, or that results from this collaboration will be marketed
successfully.
Novartis (NYSE: NVS - NEWS) is a world leader in healthcare with core businesses
in pharmaceuticals, consumer health, generics, eye-care, and animal health. In
1999, the Group (including Agribusiness) achieved sales of CHF 32.5 billion (USD
21.6 billion) and invested more than CHF 4.2 billion (USD 2.8 billion) in R&D.
Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Novartis employs about 82,500 people and
operates in over 140 countries around the world. The Group plans to spin off its
Crop Protection and Seeds sectors and to merge them with the agrochemicals
business of AstraZeneca in the fourth quarter of 2000.
BioTransplant Incorporated utilizes its proprietary technologies to re-educate
the body's immune responses to allow tolerance of foreign cells, tissues and
organs. Based on this technology ,the Company is developing a portfolio of
products for application in a range of medical conditions, including organ and
tissue transplantation, and treatment of cancer and autoimmune diseases, for
which current therapies are inadequate. BioTransplant's products under
development are intended to induce long-term functional transplantation
tolerance in humans, increase the therapeutic benefit of bone marrow
transplants, and reduce or eliminate the need for lifelong immunosuppressive
therapy.
Contact: Elliot Lebowitz, Ph.D., President and CEO, or Julia Greenstein, Ph.D.,
CSO, both of BioTransplant Incorporated, 617-241-5200; or Pat Dimond, Ph.D.,
Investor, ext. 245, or Prateek Patnaik, Media, ext. 273, both of Noonan-Russo
Communications, 212-696-4455, for Novartis Pharma AG.
