CHELMSFORD, Mass., Oct. 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Mercury Computer Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: MRCY), a leading provider of embedded, high-performance computing systems and software for complex image, sensor, and signal processing applications, announced that it has sold the assets and intellectual property (IP) of SolMap Pharmaceuticals, its biotech venture, to FORMA Therapeutics of Cambridge, Massachusetts. The transaction was completed on September 30, 2008; financial details were not disclosed.
SolMap Pharmaceuticals was a drug discovery and design venture founded to develop and enhance small molecule drugs in a wide range of therapeutic areas, by leveraging the unique capabilities of computational and experimental fragment-based drug design.
FORMA Therapeutics was recently funded by the Novartis Option Fund, a venture capital arm of Novartis AG (www.novartis.com), one the world's largest pharmaceutical firms. FORMA will integrate SolMap's assets and IP into its transformative chemistry and biology platforms to unlock the best targets and pathways that genomic medicine has revealed.
"Exiting the biotech market by selling the assets of SolMap is another step in our continuing efforts to divest non-core and unprofitable businesses. Our goal of divesting these businesses is to improve the Company's financial performance and exit FY09 as a much more focused entity," said Mark Aslett, President and CEO of Mercury Computer Systems. "We believe that FORMA Therapeutics can provide the resources necessary for SolMap to further develop and implement its platform broadly in the biotech industry."
Mercury Computer Systems, Inc. - Where Challenges Drive Innovation(TM)
Mercury Computer Systems (www.mc.com, NASDAQ: MRCY) provides embedded computing systems and software that combine image, signal, and sensor processing with information management for data-intensive applications. With deep expertise in optimizing algorithms and software and in leveraging industry-standard technologies, we work closely with customers to architect comprehensive, purpose-built solutions that capture, process, and present data for defense electronics, homeland security, and other computationally challenging commercial markets. Our dedication to performance excellence and collaborative innovation continues a 25-year history in enabling customers to gain the competitive advantage they need to stay at the forefront of the markets they serve.
Mercury is based in Chelmsford, Massachusetts, and serves customers worldwide through a broad network of direct sales offices, subsidiaries, and distributors.
Forward-Looking Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements, as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including those relating to the agreement to sell its SolMap Pharmaceuticals assets and IP to FORMA Therapeutics. You can identify these statements by our use of the words "may," "will," "should," "plans," "expects," "anticipates," "continue," "estimate," "project," "intend," and similar expressions. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected or anticipated. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, general economic and business conditions, including unforeseen weakness in the Company's markets, effects of continued geo-political unrest and regional conflicts, competition, changes in technology and methods of marketing, delays in completing engineering and manufacturing programs, changes in customer order patterns, changes in product mix, continued success in technological advances and delivering technological innovations, continued funding of defense programs, the timing of such funding, changes in the U.S. Government's interpretation of federal procurement rules and regulations, market acceptance of the Company's products, shortages in components, production delays due to performance quality issues with outsourced components, inability to fully realize the expected benefits from acquisitions or delays in realizing such benefits, challenges in integrating acquired businesses and achieving anticipated synergies, and difficulties in retaining key customers. These risks and uncertainties also include such additional risk factors as are discussed in the Company's recent filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2008. The Company cautions readers not to place undue reliance upon any such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which such statement is made.
Contact:
Bob Hult, Senior Vice President and CFO
978-967-1990
Challenges Drive Innovation is a trademark of Mercury Computer Systems, Inc. Other product and company names mentioned may be trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective holders.
SOURCE Mercury Computer Systems, Inc.