Halozyme Announces Roche Filing to European Medicines Agency Triggers $4M Milestone Payment

Filing Triggered a $4 Million Milestone Payment to Halozyme From Roche Data From Subcutaneous MabThera Trials Presented at the American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc.

today announced that Roche

has submitted a line extension application to the European Medicines Agency for a subcutaneous (SC) formulation of MabThera® (rituxumab). The filing of the application triggered a $4 million milestone payment to Halozyme under the License and Collaboration Agreement between Halozyme and Roche. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20100302/LA63139LOGO) "This regulatory filing brings patients and physicians one step closer to an enhanced treatment option for Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma," said Gregory I. Frost, Ph.D., Halozyme's President and Chief Executive Officer. "Offering a subcutaneous formulation of MabThera could provide patients with a therapy which is less invasive, shortens administration times and potentially reduces healthcare costs." Roche reported positive data today from two clinical studies of MabThera given by subcutaneous injection at the 54th annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH). The pivotal study data presented showed that SC administration of MabThera enabled the delivery of MabThera over approximately five minutes without compromising its proven efficacy and safety. Both studies showed that a fixed dose of MabThera can be administered