Neurologix, Medtronic to Develop Gene Therapy Infusion Catheters

Neurologix, a company engaged in the R&D of proprietary treatments for disorders of the brain and central nervous system primarily utilizing gene therapies, has entered into an agreement with Medtronic for the joint development, manufacturing and commercialization of micro-infusion catheters designed to deliver gene therapy into the brain and central nervous system.

Under the terms of the agreement, Medtronic and Neurologix will jointly develop, and Medtronic will manufacture, delivery devices for Neurologix's Parkinson's disease and temporal lobe epilepsy clinical programs, and the two companies will have a revenue-sharing arrangement upon the commercialization of the device.

In conjunction with the agreement, Medtronic increased its equity investment in Neurologix by $2 million, purchasing 1,141,552 shares of common stock at a price of $1.752 per share, plus warrants to purchase 285,388 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $2.19 per share. In connection with the development agreement, Neurologix will pay development costs to Medtronic over the course of the project, based on development milestones.

To date, all procedures in Neurologix's Parkinson's disease trial have been performed using a patent-pending delivery device, referred to as NLX, which is not yet optimized for larger scale manufacture. Among the requirements for commercialization of this treatment is the demonstrated ability to develop and to produce in commercial quantities a user-friendly delivery device for neurosurgeons to easily, reliably and quickly perform this procedure.