Panacea Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Announces Collaboration with M.D. Anderson Cancer Center for HAAH Oncology Program

GAITHERSBURG, Md., May 3 /PRNewswire/ -- Panacea Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that it has entered into a broad collaboration with Li Mao, MD of the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. The collaboration will further explore the biology of human aspartyl (asparaginyl) Beta-hydroxylase (HAAH) regulation and expression in carcinomas of the lung. The utility of HAAH detection and quantitation for diagnosis and prognosis of this disease will be determined, and the collaboration will also explore the efficacy of compounds aimed at inhibiting HAAH expression or activity as potential therapeutic agents. Panacea has an exclusive, worldwide license from Rhode Island Hospital/Brown University for all therapeutic and diagnostic uses of HAAH and related pathways.

"We are delighted to be working with Dr. Mao and his team to further the understanding of HAAH in carcinomas of the lung and to determine HAAH's utility in the management of this disease," stated Kasra Ghanbari, President of the Company.

HAAH is a membrane-associated enzyme that is over-expressed by many malignant cells and is associated with proliferation, motility, and invasiveness of cancer cells. HAAH over-expression has been observed by immunohistochemical staining of primary tumor tissue in 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.

Recently, soluble HAAH was detected in archived sera from cancer patients and up-regulation of the gene that encodes HAAH (ASPH) was observed in a number of malignancies. Among the malignancies that most consistently exhibit over-expression of the HAAH protein or up-regulation of the ASPH gene are carcinomas of the lung.

M.D. Anderson will identify archived serum and/or tissue specimens from patients with pathologically confirmed carcinoma of the lung, patients at high risk for developing carcinoma of the lung, and patients at low risk for developing carcinoma of the lung. In addition, M.D. Anderson will identify archived serum and/or tissue specimens from lung cancer patients who were treated at M.D. Anderson and for whom data concerning clinical outcome or response to therapy are available.

"We are excited to conduct this collaboration with Panacea, as HAAH represents a novel and intriguing approach to effect both the diagnosis and course of lung carcinomas," stated Dr. Mao. "We intend to expand the collaboration to explore HAAH's role in head and neck cancers."

Dr. Mao is currently Professor of Medicine and Director of the Molecular Biology Laboratory in the Department of Thoracic/Head and Neck Medical Oncology at University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. He is also Faculty Member, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Texas-Houston Health Science Center as well as Professor, Cancer Institute and Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China. Dr. Mao was formerly Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at Cangen International, Inc.

He has served in a consulting capacity for such groups as H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center, Association for International Cancer Research in the U.K., International Society for Preventative Oncology, Department of Veteran Affairs, and Bayer Diagnostics.

Dr. Mao is Associate Editor of Clinical Cancer Research and member of the Editorial Academy of International Journal of Oncology. He is a journal reviewer for many outstanding publications including Cancer Research, Clinical Chemistry, Journal of Clinical Investigation, Nature Medicine, New England Journal of Medicine, British Journal of Cancer, American Journal of Pathology, Oncogene, and Science.

Dr. Mao received his Medical Degree from Nanjing Medical University in Nanjing, China. He was Postdoctoral Fellow, Head and Neck Cancer Research Division, Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland. Prior to that, he was Visiting Surgeon, Department of Surgery and Endocrine Research Unit, at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota.

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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