Aphton Corporation has entered into a mutual decision and agreement to terminate the co-promotion and licensing agreement with sanofi pasteur related to Aphton's lead immunotherapy compound, Insegia (G17DT immunogen). The agreements related to the co-promotion, licensing and supply of Insegia will be terminated effective immediately.

The original agreements, signed in 1997, were related to the development, manufacturing and co-promotion rights for all human cancer applications of Insegia, including stomach, esophageal, colorectal, and pancreatic cancers. Under the terms of the agreement, Aphton was to be responsible for product development, clinical trials and regulatory filings, and sanofi pasteur was to be responsible for the promotion, advertising, marketing, distribution and sales of Aphton's anti-gastrin vaccine in North America and Europe. In addition, Aphton and sanofi pasteur had entered into agreements providing for the supply of diphtheria toxoid, a key component of Insegia, claims a company

"By dissolving these agreements and regaining essentially unencumbered worldwide rights to Insegia we are in a better position to find a new corporate partner with the goal of furthering the development of Insegia, specifically as a therapeutic option for patients with gastric cancer. Up until this point any discussions we have had with potential partners have been limited. We continue to be encouraged by the survival data seen in patients who did achieve an antibody response in our clinical trials with Insegia. We believe that this data combined with a much broader licensing opportunity will draw significant interest from potential partners," said Patrick Mooney, chairman and chief executive officer of Aphton.

Aphton Corporation is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing targeted immunotherapies for cancer. Aphton's products seek to empower the body's own immune system to fight diseases.