Coley Pharmaceutical Group Receives Payment From Aventis for Clinical Milestone in Collaboration on Allergic Respiratory Disease

Coley Pharmaceutical Group Receives Payment From Aventis for
Clinical Milestone in Collaboration on Allergic Respiratory Diseases 


WELLESLEY, Mass., Sept. 14  /PRNewswire/ -- Coley Pharmaceutical Group, Inc.
today announced that the company has received a $5 million milestone payment
from Aventis (NYSE:AVE).  The payment was made in conjunction with Aventis'
initiation of a Phase I clinical study to evaluate the first of Coley's novel
CpG-based TLR Therapeutics(TM) developed for use in the treatment of allergic
respiratory disease.

"We are pleased by the rapid progress of our collaboration with Aventis. This
compound is the fourth Coley-discovered investigational drug to advance into
clinical studies and the first to be aerosolized directly to the lung," said
Robert L. Bratzler, Ph.D., Coley's President and Chief Executive Officer. "The
Phase I trial will test dose and safety of this unique anti-allergy TLR
Therapeutic in normal healthy volunteers, joining Coley's other clinical stage
investigational drugs:  ProMune(TM) for cancers, Actilon(TM) for hepatitis C
and VaxImmune(TM) vaccine adjuvant.  Each of Coley's CpG-based TLR Therapeutics
acts through the Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) pathway, targeting and modulating
immune responses to treat different human diseases. Preclinical pharmacology of
this drug shows potent correction of the immunologic system imbalance
characteristic of acute hypersensitivity disease."

In August 2001, Coley and Aventis entered into a $260 million product
development and licensing collaboration for the development of first-in-class
asthma and allergic rhinitis products based on Coley's novel CpG-based TLR
Therapeutics.  Through the collaboration, Aventis has obtained an exclusive,
worldwide, royalty-bearing license to develop CpG-based TLR Therapeutics in
specific respiratory conditions.

TLR Therapeutics(TM) and Allergic Respiratory Diseases

Allergic respiratory diseases such as asthma may occur when the immune system
mounts a heightened response to normally harmless foreign allergens, such as
house dust, plant pollen or pet dander.  These hypersensitivities occur because
the immune system reacts pathologically to normally harmless materials, the
mechanisms for which include immune type 2 inflammatory responses, IgE
antibodies, various cytokines and chemokines.  The TLR Therapeutic compound
selected for Phase I study is designed to redirect aberrant immune reactions to
allergens by TLR9 activation of dendritic cells and B cells, redirecting the
Th2 immune response to a natural and safe Th1 immune response.

About Coley Pharmaceutical Group

Coley Pharmaceutical is an international biopharmaceutical company that
discovers and develops investigational TLR Therapeutics(TM), a new class of
drugs that direct the human immune system to treat cancers, infectious
diseases, asthma and allergy.  In addition to Aventis, Coley has partnered
programs with Chiron, GlaxoSmithKline and the United States Government.  Coley
is headquartered in Wellesley, Massachusetts, USA, and has research and
development laboratories in Langenfeld, Germany, and Ottawa, Canada.  For
further information please visit http://www.coleypharma.com/. 

DATASOURCE: Coley Pharmaceutical Group, Inc.



CONTACT:  Charles Abdalian, Senior Vice President and CFO, Coley

Pharmaceutical Group, [phone], ext. 1244, ;

or Karen L. Bergman, [phone], , or Michelle

Corral, [phone], , both of BCC Partners (US),

for Coley Pharmaceutical Group, Inc.



Web site:  http://www.coleypharma.com/ 

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