Panacea Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Presents New Findings At 8th International Conference on Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders

ROCKVILLE, Md., July 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Panacea Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today the presentation of three papers at the 8th International Conference on Alzheimer's Disease & Related Disorders in Stockholm, Sweden. The conference is the largest-ever global gathering of Alzheimer's scientists, and is hosted by the Alzheimer's Association.

The three presented papers were as follows:

INCREASED OXIDATIVE STRESS INVOLVING OLFACTORY NEURONS IN ALZHEIMER DISEASE
Hossein Ghanbari, Zvezdana Kubat, Kasra Ghanbari, Massimo Tabaton, Rudy J. Castellani, Mark A. Smith, George Perry

THE EXPRESSION OF METABOTROPIC GLUTAMATE RECEPTORS PREDICTS NEURONAL VULNERABILITY IN ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE
Hyoung-gon Lee, Osamu Ogawa, Xiongwei Zhu, Rudolph J. Castellani, Hossein Ghanbari, George Perry, Mark A. Smith, Catherine Rottkamp

DUAL TRACER EMISSION COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY (DTECT): A PRACTICAL NEW TECHNIQUE FOR THE DIFFERENTIAL DIAGNOSIS, STAGING AND MONITORING OF DEMENTIA
Christopher Kircher, Hossein A. Ghanbari, Harold T. Pretorius

The abstracts can be viewed online at http://www.alz.org/internationalconference/abstracts.htm.

Hossein A. Ghanbari, Ph.D., President and CEO of Panacea stated, "These findings continue to support the use of our proprietary models for drug discovery and development. The goal of our program is to build a highly integrated technology portfolio based on neuroprotection and aimed at abnormalities relevant to the etiology of the disease and not simply the clinical or histopathological symptoms."

Panacea's Integrated, Multi-Technology Program

The Company has previously announced the licensing of technology from two groups of researchers at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio covering oxidative stress and cell cycle abnormalities in neurodegenerative diseases, particularly AD, as well as a collaboration with researchers at Brown University/Rhode Island Hospital to develop drugs to prevent and treat oxidative stress induced neurodegeneration in a number of conditions including Alzheimer's disease.

The first collaboration at CWRU covers the role of oxidative stress in neurodegenerative diseases. Brain tissue studies have clearly demonstrated that the affected neurons in AD brains are more prone to oxidative stress as indicated by increased level of oxidative stress markers. The Company and its collaborators have developed several proprietary in vitro model for studying oxidative stress in AD-derived cells versus normal as well as for screening compounds that protect neurons prone to oxidative stress. Recent findings were published in the Journal of Neuropathology and Experimental Neurology (Vol. 60, page 504).

The second collaboration at CWRU covers cell cycle abnormalities in neurodegenerative diseases. Neuronal cells in the brain do not normally divide. However, it has been demonstrated that, in AD brains, some neurons begin to divide without being able to go through various phases of cell division. These cells are prone to oxidative stress and degenerate readily. The Company and its collaborators have developed a proprietary in vitro model for high-throughput screening of compounds aimed at protecting the neurons as well as for studying the mechanism of cell cycle involvement in neurodegeneration and finding a molecular target for developing drugs for AD and other neurodegenerative diseases. These findings were published in two articles in Neurobiology of Aging (Vol. 21, No. 6, pages 807-813 and 837-841).

The Company and its collaborators at Brown University are exploring new and novel discoveries towards determining the mechanisms of oxidative injury mediated neuronal impairment and neuronal cell death. The collaboration utilizes proprietary in vitro and in vivo models that allow high-throughput screening to identify drug candidates that would be used to either prevent the onset or reduce the progression of neuronal degeneration caused by oxidative damage.

About Panacea Pharmaceuticals

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 neurodegenerative diseases, particularly Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease.

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

Except for historical information presented in this press release, matters discussed herein may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management only as of the date of this release and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from any future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by such statements. Factors that might cause such a difference include, but are not limited to, uncertainties related to our access to capital, the progress, costs, and results of any clinical trials undertaken by us, progress of our research and development projects, and uncertainties related to whether our product candidates would ultimately achieve commercial success. We do not undertake any obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise unless required by law.