Abbott and Protein Design Labs Announce Broad, Long-Term Collaboration for Humanized Therapeutic Antibodies ABBOTT PARK, Ill. and FREMONT, Calif., June 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Abbott Laboratories and Protein Design Labs, Inc. (PDL) today announced a long-term collaboration that provides Abbott broad access to PDL's technology for antibody humanization. Humanization is a process by which antibodies with highly potent therapeutic properties are engineered to be comprised of primarily human sequences while retaining their potent therapeutic properties. Humanization technology is a strategic component in Abbott's goal of generating therapeutic antibodies targeted to unmet medical needs. This technology will be applicable to all therapeutic areas of interest at Abbott. Under the agreement, PDL will humanize up to three antibodies for Abbott, and either company may humanize subsequent antibodies at the election of Abbott. The agreement includes milestone payments contingent upon meeting specified clinical and commercial objectives, as well as royalties on sales of any antibody humanized by either party under the agreement. Additional financial terms were not disclosed. "This agreement with PDL represents another important milestone in Abbott's continuing mission to develop new drugs for unmet medical needs," said Alejandro Aruffo, Ph.D., president, Abbott Bioresearch Center, and divisional vice president, Pharmaceutical Discovery, Abbott Laboratories. "PDL's humanization technology will significantly enhance Abbott's industry- leading biologics platform. Having world-class dual capabilities in both small-molecule and biologics is critical as it allows us to pursue the best approach for each discovery program to help us get better drugs to patients faster." "We are pleased to collaborate with Abbott -- a global pharmaceutical leader and a company that is clearly committed to antibody-based therapeutics," said Mark McDade, chief executive officer, PDL. "PDL's proven technology and our ability to engineer effective humanized antibodies remain core strengths that can effectively attract new partners, such as Abbott." Abbott currently has exclusive rights to market the humanized antibody Synagis(R) (palivizumab) outside of the United States. In the U.S., MedImmune Inc. and Abbott have exclusive agreement to co-promote Synagis. Synagis is a humanized antibody product licensed under PDL's antibody humanization patents, and currently is the largest single source of royalty revenues to PDL. About Protein Design Labs Protein Design Labs is a leader in the development of humanized antibodies to prevent or treat various disease conditions. PDL currently has antibodies under development for autoimmune and inflammatory conditions, asthma and cancer. PDL holds fundamental patents for its antibody humanization technology. Further information on PDL is available at http://www.pdl.com/ . About Abbott Laboratories Abbott Laboratories is a global, broad-based health care company devoted to the discovery, development, manufacture and marketing of pharmaceuticals and medical products, including nutritionals, devices and diagnostics. The company employs more than 55,000 people and markets its products in more than 130 countries. Abbott's news releases and other information are available on the company's Web site at http://www.abbott.com/ . Protein Design Labs is a registered trademark and the PDL logo is a trademark of Protein Design Labs, Inc. Synagis is a registered U.S. trademark of MedImmune, Inc. DATASOURCE: Abbott Laboratories CONTACT: Media, Jennifer Smoter, +1-847-935-8865, or Financial Community, Larry Peepo, +1-847-935-6722, both of Abbott Laboratories; James R. Goff of Protein Design Labs, Inc., +1-510-574-1421, Web site: http://www.abbott.com/ http://www.pdl.com/ Company News On-Call: http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/110328.html

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