- Access to OmniBank Database and Knockout Mice -

THE WOODLANDS, Texas, Feb. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- Lexicon Genetics Incorporated announced today a multi-year functional genomics research agreement with Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals Inc. under Lexicon's OmniBank(R) Internet Universal(TM) program. Under the agreement, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals will have Internet access to Lexicon's OmniBank gene sequence database and library of 60,000 knockout mouse clones for use in determining the function of genes that represent potential drug targets. Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals will also have access to Lexicon's custom knockout mouse program for the engineering of genetic alterations directed at specific drug targets. Financial terms were not disclosed.

"Lexicon Genetics' ability to rapidly generate knockout mice directed at genes that we believe to be potentially important drug targets will advance our drug discovery and drug target validation efforts," stated Peter Mueller, Ph.D., Senior Vice President, Research and Development at Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals Inc. "We believe that analysis of gene function and disease relevance in a mammalian system will further enhance our research capabilities and offer the potential for greater likelihood of clinical success."

"Lexicon is pleased to have the opportunity to help advance Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals' drug discovery efforts," said Arthur T. Sands, M.D., Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Lexicon Genetics Incorporated. "Our functional genomics technology platform - including OmniBank and our complementary custom mutant mouse technologies - provides companies in the pharmaceutical industry with key resources for the acceleration of drug discovery, target validation and drug development programs."

Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals will have non-exclusive access to Lexicon's OmniBank database during the term of the agreement, in exchange for annual access fees. Lexicon may also receive royalties on sales of drugs and diagnostic products developed using novel genes discovered in the OmniBank database. Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals will also have access to knockout mice generated from the OmniBank library and custom knockouts generated by homologous recombination, in exchange for agreed-upon fees with minimum annual commitments.

Lexicon's OmniBank database and mouse clone library presently contains more than 60,000 embryonic stem (ES) cell clones stored in liquid nitrogen freezers, each identified by DNA sequence from altered genes stored in a relational database. Each OmniBank ES cell clone may be grown into a knockout mouse, a mouse whose DNA has been mutated to eliminate the function of, or "knock out," a specified gene. Knockout mice have become the preferred method, in both academia and industry, for the study of gene function in mammals, and provide valuable predictive information as to which gene products are valid drug targets or therapeutic proteins for pharmaceutical development. OmniBank is based on gene trapping technology developed by Lexicon scientists at the company's research laboratories in the Woodlands, Texas.

Lexicon's OmniBank library is complemented by its gene targeting technology for the creation of custom knockout mice with genetic alterations directed at specific drug targets of interest. Lexicon generates mice in which the gene of interest has been knocked out or conditionally knocked out (using recombinase technologies), and mice in which a point mutation has been introduced in the gene of interest. Lexicon's collaborators receive the benefit of the key patented enabling technologies for the development of custom knockout mice which are owned by or licensed to Lexicon, including positive/negative selection, Cre/lox and isogenic DNA, as well as Lexicon's proprietary lambda KOS system.

Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals Inc. is a subsidiary of Boehringer Ingelheim Corporation in Ridgefield, CT (http://us.boehringer-ingelheim.com) and a member of the Boehringer Ingelheim worldwide group of companies. Boehringer Ingelheim GmBH, International, with headquarters in Ingelheim (Germany), is one of the 20 leading pharmaceutical corporations in the world. It reported revenues exceeding U.S.$1.4 billion in 1998. The corporation has more than 140 affiliated companies and it conducts business on every continent. Its product range is focused on human pharmaceuticals - hospital, prescription and self-medication - as well as animal health. Substantial research and development, production, and distribution facilities are located around the globe. In 1998 the Boehringer Ingelheim corporation spent U.S.$902 million on research and development, equivalent to 18% of total sales.

Lexicon Genetics Incorporated (www.lexicon-genetics.com) is a leader in the design, development and application of high-throughput gene trapping and mutagenesis technologies for gene discovery and functional genomics. Lexicon employs its proprietary Human Gene Trap(TM) database, OmniBank(R) library of gene-trapped mouse clones and its Internet-based bioinformatics software in an integrated technology platform for drug discovery and drug target validation. Lexicon has an agreement with Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. for access to the Human Gene Trap and OmniBank databases. In addition to Boehringer Ingelheim, Lexicon has commercial OmniBank alliances with The R.W. Johnson Pharmaceutical Research Institute, G.D. Searle & Co., N.V. Organon, ZymoGenetics/Novo Nordisk and DuPont Pharmaceuticals. Lexicon also provides access to a substantial portion of OmniBank through its www.lexgen.com genomics Internet exchange to subscribers at leading research institutions throughout the world. Lexicon Genetics Incorporated, founded in 1995, is a privately-held company based in The Woodlands, Texas, U.S.A.