Biotie Provides Update on Pfizer Research Collaboration

Biotie announced today that the discovery phase of the Research Collaboration and License Agreement between Biotie and Pfizer regarding the development of PDE10 (phosphodiesterase 10) inhibitors for schizophrenia will end in June 2010. Under the terms of the agreement, Pfizer has been funding Biotie’s research activities on the PDE10 inhibitor program since its initiation at the end of 2006 and has the sole authority with respect to developing discovered compounds. To date, the program has advanced one compound into preclinical development.



Timo Veromaa, President and CEO of Biotie, said “In this research collaboration with Pfizer we have succeeded in finding innovative molecules for the treatment of schizophrenia, a disease area which has seen very few advances, especially in new mechanisms such as PDE10, over the last few decades. We believe this partnership provides further validation of our PDE platform technology”



PDE10 is a novel CNS drug target for schizophrenia treatments. Biotie, in collaboration with Pfizer, has demonstrated that inhibitors of PDE10 are active in experimental models relevant for schizophrenia. Data from these studies were recently presented at the American Chemical Society Fall National Meeting in Washington DC (August 2009) and at the Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting in Chicago, IL (October 2009).

Biotie Therapies Corp.

Biotie is a drug discovery and development company focused on central nervous system and inflammatory diseases. It has a broad range of innovative small molecule and biological drug candidates at different stages of clinical and pre-clinical development. Biotie’s products address diseases with high unmet medical need and significant market potential, including addiction and psychotic disorders, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The most advanced product, nalmefene for alcohol dependence, is currently in phase III clinical development by licensing partner H. Lundbeck A/S.



The commercial value of the pipeline has been demonstrated through existing alliances with top-tier global pharmaceutical companies such as Lundbeck, Roche and Pfizer. Biotie has operations in Turku, Finland and Radebeul, Germany.

Biotie shares are listed on NASDAQ OMX Helsinki Ltd.

For more information, please refer to www.biotie.com

Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is a chronic, severe and disabling disorder of the central nervous system affecting up to one percent of the population. The disease is characterized by hallucinations, social withdrawal, and deficits in cognition and memory. Current treatments are mostly efficacious in the treatment of hallucinations but have insufficient efficacy for social withdrawal and may have intolerable side effects including weight gain, diabetes, movement disorders and anxiety disorders.