Aurigene Achieves 2nd Milestone in Second Discovery Partnership With MerckSerono

Bangalore, India, June 24th, 2008 – Aurigene Discovery Technologies Ltd., a fully integrated, global biotech focused on small molecule and peptide drug discovery and development from target identification and validation to pre-IND drug candidates in oncology, metabolic disorders and autoimmune diseases, announced its timely achievement of a second milestone fulfilling criteriae of Lead Nomination in a Drug Discovery collaboration with Merck Serono, the pharmaceutical division of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany. Using its unique discovery technology platform and know-how for Drug Discovery, Aurigene is collaborating with Merck Serono to generate an optimized lead ready for IND-enabling studies. Under the terms of the agreement, Aurigene receives research funding and milestone payments. Aurigene has two Discovery programs in different therapeutic areas with Merck Serono since 2006. Established in Bangalore, India, in 2003, Aurigene Discovery Technologies, has a proven track record of successful partnerships with big and medium-sized pharma partners globally. Aurigene has 10 drug discovery collaborations with 14 programs and had filed 14 patents across 6 programs over the last 12 months. With a fully integrated structural biology and fragment-based drug design drug discovery platform, 250 employees Aurigene accelerates the drug discovery process by integrating information starting from Protein Expression and Purification, all the way through medicinal chemistry and pre-clinical biology with in-house crystallization and bioNMR capabilities.

For further information please contact:
Priyanka Ganapathy, Project Management
& Corporate Communications
priyanka_g@aurigene.com

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About Aurigene:

Established in Bangalore, India, in 2002, Aurigene Discovery Technologies Ltd. is a drug discovery biotech with a proven track record of successful partnerships with big and medium-sized pharma and biotech companies globally. Aurigene has 10 drug discovery collaborations and a pipeline of 16 discovery programs at various stages, from Hit Generation to late-stage Pre-Clinical Optimization, and has filed 16 patents across 6 programs. With proprietary Structural Biology and Fragment-based Drug Design technology platforms, and experienced scientific leadership, Aurigene is a fully integrated Drug Discovery company focused on Oncology, Inflammation and Metabolic Disorders.

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