INNATE PHARMA (EPA:IPH) Inserm Transfert and Innate Pharma (Euronext : IPH) enter into an innovative partnership for the development of new antibodies for the treatment of cancer and inflammatory or autoimmune diseases

Transparency directive : regulatory news

11/09/2009 07:00

For immediate release

              INSERM TRANSFERT AND INNATE PHARMA ENTER INTO AN
             INNOVATIVE PARTNERSHIP FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW
                ANTIBODIES FOR THE TREATMENT OF CANCER AND
                   INFLAMMATORY OR AUTOIMMUNE DISEASES

Over a three-year period, Inserm Transfert will make available to Innate
Pharma information on early-stage antibody targets discovered within
Inserm's academic research laboratories, for the purpose of jointly
advancing them and concluding commercial licenses.

Paris & Marseille, France, September 11, 2009 - Inserm Transfert and Innate
Pharma (Euronext: IPH) announce today the execution of an agreement
facilitating the development of antibodies in cancer, inflammation and
auto-immunity.

This partnership of a new kind will enable Innate Pharma to be informed of the
discovery of promising antibody targets at an early stage, and in turn to
collaborate with academic scientists to develop drug candidates directed to
such targets. On Inserm's side, it will accelerate the identification and
validation of targets with market potential.

This agreement includes three main stages:

   * Inserm Transfert will make available to Innate Pharma, for preliminary
evaluation, information on early-stage antibody targets (within the scope of
the agreement) discovered by Inserm academic laboratories;

   * For targets selected by Innate Pharma following this preliminary
evaluation, Inserm and Innate Pharma will implement a collaborative research
program to advance and mature the project towards the development of a drug
candidate. The partners will enter into an option agreement for a potential
license of the target by Innate Pharma;

   * At the end of the collaborative research program, Innate Pharma may
exercise its option and enter into a licensing agreement.

Data generated during the collaboration for targets not retained by Innate
Pharma will be the property of Inserm.

This partnership will benefit on the one hand from Inserm's excellence in
fundamental research and on the other hand from Innate Pharma's leading
expertise in translational research and antibody development. A distinctive
feature of this partnership lies in the continuous interaction between the two
partners that should enable more relevant (i) definition of collaborative
research programs and (ii) selection of targets of interest for drug
development. The partnership will also benefit from additional efforts by
Inserm Transfert to identify projects of high potential in most renowned
academic laboratories.

"We are very pleased to be the first company to benefit from this new type of
privileged relationship with Inserm Transfert", said Hervé Brailly, CEO of
Innate Pharma. He added: "Innate Pharma has significant expertise in
translational research and several of our targets arise from French public
research. In addition, antibodies now represent a significant part of our
drug-candidate portfolio, budget allocation and development strategy. This
agreement there fore fits well with our ambitions."

"Facilitating collaboration between Inserm's academic laboratories and
industry is at the core of Inserm Transfert's mission. This partnership
demonstrates our ability to support companies in their translational
research effort, while fulfilling our primary objective: assisting Inserm
in its mission of advancing innovation and public health", said Dr.
Cécile Tharaud, CEO of Inserm Transfert. She added: "In this kind of
partnership, our partners benefit from our high value-added services
within a streamlined contractual relationship."

About Inserm Transfert

Founded in 2001, Inserm Transfert SA is the private subsidiary of the French
National Institute of the Health and Medical Research (Inserm), dedicated to
technology transfer (from invention disclosure to industrial partnership).
Inserm Transfert also manages European and International research projects,
supports preclinical, clinical and post-marketing studies. Inserm Transfert is
committed to seed financing in the biotech sector, through its dedicated fund
Inserm Transfert Initiative.
www.inserm-transfert.fr

For additional information, please contact:

Céline Cortot
Tel : +33 (0)1 55 03 01 68
celine.cortot@inserm-transfert.fr

About Innate Pharma:
Innate Pharma S.A. ("the company") is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical
company developing first-in-class immunotherapy drugs for cancer and other
severe diseases. The company was incorporated in 1999 and listed on
NYSE-Euronext in Paris in 2006.

The company has significant expertise in identifying new targets and bringing
novel drug candidates through to clinical proof-of-concept trials. It
currently has seven proprietary drug candidates in development (two of
which are in Phase II clinical trials) and two programs out-licensed to
Novo Nordisk A/S.

Innate Pharma is based in Marseilles, France, and had 86 employees as at
June 30, 2009.

Learn more about Innate-Pharma at www.innate-pharma.com.

Practical Information about Innate Pharma shares:
ISIN code             FR0010331421
Ticker code           IPH

For additional information, please contact:
Innate Pharma                  Alize Public Relations
Laure-Hélène Mercier           Caroline Carmagnol
Director, Investor Relations   Phone : +33 (0)1 41 22 07 31
Phone: +33 (0)4 30 30 30 87    Mobile: +33 (0)6 64 18 99 59
lmercier@innate-pharma.fr      caroline@alizerp.com

Disclaimer:
This press release, and the information contained herein, do not constitute an
offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy or subscribe for shares in
Innate Pharma in any country.

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