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Angiochem crosses BBB, shows safety, efficacy in phase 1/2 brain cancer studies

October 19, 2009

Angiochem, Inc. a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing drugs that are uniquely capable of crossing the blood-brain barrier to treat brain diseases, announced today that its lead drug candidate, ANG1005, has demonstrated a favorable safety and efficacy profile in more than 100 patients with brain cancer from two separate Phase 1 /2 clinical studies in patients with progressive gliomas, including recurrent glioblastoma, and in patients with progressive brain metastases. These data, which validates in humans Angiochem's peptide-based platform technology (EPiC), were presented at the Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting in Chicago on October 18, 2009.

In the recently completed Phase 1/2 brain metastases clinical trial, greater than 70% of patients receiving therapeutic doses experienced disease control (stable disease or better) with more than half of them showing clear reduction in tumor size. Furthermore, 78% of patients with taxane resistant tumors showed responses, indicating ANG1005 has the potential to be effective against resistant tumors. Of significance, therapeutic doses of ANG1005 were present in patient brain tumor samples, indicating that the drug successfully crosses the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and concentrates in the tumor, without showing central nervous system (CNS) toxicity or immunogenicity. Similar trends in patient responses have been observed to-date in the on-going Phase 1/2 recurrent glioblastoma clinical trial with approximately 65% of patients experiencing disease control.

"It is highly encouraging to see that ANG1005 has shown the potential to be effective in metastatic brain cancers and against drug resistant tumors, that are highly aggressive and have few treatment options," commented Jan Drappatz, MD, Center for Neuro-Oncology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Department of Neurology at Brigham and Women's Hospital, and, Harvard Medical School, and lead investigator for Boston-area study centers. "Furthermore, significant reductions in tumor size and reversal of neurological deficits were observed in several cases of patients with high-grade gliomas in the on-going clinical trial. We are very encouraged by these efficacy signals and look forward to learning more about the effects of ANG1005 in recurrent glioblastoma as the study progresses."

ANG1005 is a novel, next-generation taxane derivative, targeting the LRP pathway to cross the blood-brain barrier and reach therapeutic concentrations in the brain. The drug was created with Angiochem's Engineered Peptide Compound (EPiC) platform technology. Key findings to date from the clinical studies include:

* 71% of patients (15/ 21) demonstrated disease control at therapeutic doses including seven partial responses (PR), four minor responses (MR) and four with stable disease (SD).
* 78% of patients with taxane resistant tumors (7/9) demonstrated responses indicating ANG1005 is effective in resistant tumors, including three PRs and four MRs.
* Similar responses were observed in metastases located in other organs such as liver, lung, lymph nodes and bone including two complete responses (CR), one in liver and one in bone.
* Therapeutic concentrations of ANG1005 were present in patient brain tumor samples, indicating the drug successfully crosses the BBB and enters the tumor.
* No CNS toxicity as measured by neurocognitive testing was observed.
* No immunogenicity or antibody response was observed, even after repeated dosing.
* Superior side-effect profile compared to other taxanes was observed based on literature references.
* Similar trends in patient responses have been observed to date in the on-going recurrent glioblastoma trial with 65% of patients experiencing disease control.

In addition to the ANG1005 clinical findings, Angiochem's EPiC technology was also highlighted at the Neurosciences meeting. In a presentation entitled "Development of a New Engineered Peptide Compound (EPiC) Platform for the Transport of Small and Large Therapeutics to the CNS", Jean-Paul Castaigne, MD, discussed the science underlying the EPiC technology and disclosed evidence of its ability to increase the amount of a variety of different therapeutics to reach the brain, highlighting the potential neurological applications of this technology and speed at which new drugs could be developed.

"We are excited by our positive results to date with ANG1005, which strongly validate our platform technology in humans," commented Jean-Paul Castaigne, MD, MBA, President and CEO of Angiochem. "Through our peptide-based platform technology, called EPiC, Angiochem creates new chemical entities that can cross the human blood-brain barrier to reach therapeutic concentration in the brain. By harnessing naturally-occurring receptors at the surface of the BBB, our EPiC drugs have the potential to treat a variety of CNS diseases, including neurodegenerative and metabolic diseases, brain cancer, psychiatric disorders and many others."

Yates Public Relations