Panacea Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Reacquires Rights to HAAH Oncology Program from MedImmune, Inc.

GAITHERSBURG, Md., April 30 /PRNewswire/ --  Panacea Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that it has reacquired from MedImmune, Inc. (NASDAQ: MEDI) all rights to therapeutic agents for the prevention or treatment of human disease based on Panacea's HAAH technology or its pathways. The two companies had originally entered into a Collaboration and License Agreement for the HAAH technology in 2002.

"We thank MedImmune's team for their efforts these last two years with regard to the HAAH technology and are excited by the prospects moving forward," stated Hossein A. Ghanbari, Ph.D., Panacea's CEO and Chief Scientific Officer. "With the recent addition of our SF-25 Oncology Program and the development of our expertise in oncology over the last few years, we have never been better positioned to capitalize on our oncology portfolio and on the resources and team that have been assembled to support drug development activities. We plan to move forward aggressively on multiple fronts with development of drugs as well as diagnostics based on HAAH. In particular, we plan to evaluate numerous technologies besides the use of naked antibodies, including conjugation with radionuclides, cytotoxic molecules, and possibly toxins."

Background on HAAH Oncology Program

Panacea's HAAH Oncology Program is based on the enzyme human aspartyl (asparaginyl) Beta-hydroxylase (HAAH).

HAAH over-expression has been detected in primary tumor tissue of more than twenty tumor types tested to date, including cancers of the pancreas, breast, ovary, liver, colon, prostate, lung, brain, and bile duct. HAAH over-expression has been detected in 99% of tumor specimens (greater than 1000) tested to date and has not been detected in normal or adjacent non-affected tissue.

Preclinical studies have indicated that over-expression of HAAH is sufficient to induce cellular transformation, to increase cell motility and invasiveness, and to establish tumor formation in animals. Even partial inhibition of HAAH expression has been shown to have a beneficial effect on tumor cells, causing them to revert to a more normal phenotype as measured by the inhibition of growth, motility, and invasiveness. HAAH is over-expressed on the surface of cancer cells, potentially facilitating detection, drug delivery, and enzyme inhibition.

About Panacea Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Panacea Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is an emerging biopharmaceutical company focused on utilizing functional genomics and proteomics to develop therapeutics and diagnostics for diseases with substantial unmet clinical need. The Company's product development focus is on novel proteins and biochemical pathways related to cellular regulation and cell cycle abnormalities in oncology as well as both acute and chronic neurodegenerative conditions such as hypoxia-induced cognitive impairment, Parkinson's disease, and Alzheimer's disease.

More information is available at http://www.PanaceaPharma.com.

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