Panacea Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Presents New Findings on its Neuroprotection and Parkinson’s Disease Programs at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience

November 5, 2004 – Gaithersburg, Maryland – Panacea Pharmaceuticals, Inc. presented seven new papers at the 34th Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience (SFN) in San Diego, California. The SFN meeting is the premier venue for neuroscientists to meet and exchange the latest discoveries about the brain, spinal cord, and nervous system. The papers are listed below and can be viewed at http://www.sfn.org.

Many neurodegenerative diseases result from acute or chronic bouts of ischemic or hypoxic stress. Neurons are particularly susceptible to these forms of stress and often respond by initiating signaling pathways that result in programmed cell death. Neuroprotectant compounds such as Panacea’s lead candidate, PAN-811, and its derivatives are novel, bio-available, and potent agents capable of inhibiting these signaling pathways. Recent results have demonstrated that PAN-811 can efficiently block the neuronal damage and degeneration associated with both acute ischemic stress as occurs in stroke and oxidative stress, a primary initiating event in Alzheimer’s and other chronic neurodegenerative diseases.

Five papers were presented at the SFN meeting relating to PAN-811. Three of these papers were presented by Panacea’s collaborators at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR), Division of Neurosciences.

CHARACTERIZATION OF A NEW CLASS OF NEUROPROTECTIVE COMPOUNDS BASED ON PAN-811
Weiying Pan, Chantee Dancik, Hossein A. Ghanbari and Bijan Almassian.

PAN-811: A MULTIFUNCTIONAL NEUROPROTECTANT
Zhi-Gang Jiang, Valery M. Nelson, Hossein A. Ghanbari, Michael S. Lebowitz and Bijan Almassian.

NEUROPROTECTIVE EFFECT OF PAN-811, A RIBONUCLEOTIDE REDUCTASE INHIBITOR, AGAINST TRANSIENT FOCAL BRAIN ISCHEMIA IN RATS
X.-C. M. Lu, X. Yang, R.W. Chen, B. Almassian, Z.-G Jiang, H. Ghanbari, J. Dave and F.C. Tortella.

A NOVEL NEUROPROTECTANT, PAN-811 PROTECTS AGAINST NEUROTOXIC INSULTS IN PRIMARY NEURONAL CULTURES
J.R. Dave, R.-W. Chen, C. Yao, X.C.M. Lu, Z. Jiang, R. Whipple, H. A. Ghanbari, B. Almassian and F.C. Tortella.

A NOVEL NEUROPROTECTANT, PAN-811, ATTENUATES GLUTAMATE OR HYPOXIA/ HYPOGLYCEMIA TOXICITY BY UP-REGULATING Bcl-2 EXPRESSION
R.-W. Chen, C.Yao, X.C.M. Lu, Z. Jiang, R. Whipple, H. A. Ghanbari, B. Almassian, F.C. Tortella and J.R. Dave.

The Company’s Parkinson’s Disease (PD) Program aims to develop pharmaceuticals that can inhibit alpha-synuclein oligomerization and thus Lewy body formation and neurodegeneration. A-Syn is present in Lewy bodies in PD and diffuse Lewy body disease. In addition, mutations in A-Syn cause rare cases of familial PD, which demonstrates that changes in A-Syn biology are sufficient to drive the pathophysiology of PD. The striking accumulation of A-Syn inclusions in Lewy body diseases indicates that A-Syn also plays an important role in the pathophysiology of these diseases.

Two papers were presented at the SFN meeting on Panacea’s PD Program, including one invited lecture.

INTRACELLULAR DELIVERY OF PEPTIDE INHIBITORS OF ALPHA-SYNUCLEIN OLIGOMERIZATION (Invited Lecture)
Michael S. Lebowitz, Quincy K. Tran, Yong Luo and Hossein A. Ghanbari

PEPTIDE INHIBITORS OF ALPHA-SYNUCLEIN OLIGOMERIZATION BIND TO ITS C-TERMINUS
Hossein A. Ghanbari, Yong Luo, Quincy K. Tran and Michael S. Lebowitz

A sixth paper regarding PAN-811 was also presented at the National Neurotrauma Society Meeting by Panacea’s collaborators at WRAIR.

PAN-811, A NOVEL NEUROPROTECTANT, PROVIDES NEUROPROTECTION IN PRIMARY NEURONAL CULTURES BY UP-REGULATING Bcl-2 EXPRESSION
J.R. Dave, R.-W. Chen, C. Yao, X.C.M. Lu, Z. Jiang2, R. Whipple, H.A. Ghanbari, B. Almassian and F.C. Tortella

Market Opportunities

Recent studies in the etiology of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) have indicated that hypoxia caused by hypoperfusion of the brain may contribute to the initiation and progress of the disease. AD is marked by significant neurodegeneration associated with high levels of oxidative stress and cellular oxidative damage. Approximately 4 million people in the US are affected with AD, and that number is expected to grow as the US population ages.

Ischemia is often associated with neuronal injury and subsequent neurodegeneration. Focal ischemia as occurs in ischemic stroke causes both brain as well as spinal cord damage. In the US, the incidence of stroke is on the order of 800,000 cases per year and more than 4 million peoples are currently living with the consequences of stroke. Stroke is the third leading cause of death in the US, and a major cause of long-term disability.

Global ischemia occurs in many abnormal conditions, including intracerebral hemorrhage due to hypertension and subarachnoid hemorrhage, as well it associates with cardiac arrest, hypotension, closed head injury, drowning, strangulation, and open-heart surgery. Hypoxia induced cognitive decline has been identified at discharge in 53% of patients following coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) operations. Although there is some further recovery, long-term measurements suggest that this decline is not transient (42% of patients at five years). Approximately 500,000 CABG procedures are performed in the US each year and a similar number are performed in Europe.

Parkinson’s Disease is the most common motor disorder, affecting 1% of the population over 60 years of age. Among individuals older than 70 years, 1.5-2.5% have the disease. In the United States alone, 50,000 people are diagnosed with PD each year, and more than half a million are affected at any one time. With the increasing age of the world population, a substantial increase in PD is anticipated.

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.

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.