Advancis Pharmaceutical announces issuance of key patents.

Advancis Pharmaceutical Corporation (Gaithersburg, MD) announced the issuance of United States Patent 6,544,555, entitled "Antibiotic Product, Use and Formulation Thereof" and United States Patent 6,541,014, entitled "Antiviral Product, Use and Formulation Thereof." The patents provide broad protection over Advancis' pulsatile approach to dosing antibiotic and anti-viral drugs, and solidify Advancis' proprietary technology position within the anti-infectives market.

The patents are driven by Advancis' novel biological finding that bacteria exposed to antibiotics in front-loaded, rapid sequential bursts-or pulses-are eliminated more efficiently and effectively. The bacterial kill observed in numerous Advancis in vitro and in vivo studies is beyond what would be expected with traditional antibiotic therapy, and foreshadow an important shift in anti-infective dosing principles. Pulsatile dosing of certain antibiotics not only eliminated more bacteria and better prevented the development of resistant strains-it did so at significantly lower drug concentrations.

"The issuance of these umbrella patents creates the foundation for our intellectual property estate," said Dr. Edward M. Rudnic, president and chief executive officer of Advancis. "Our unique pulsatile-dosing approach offers novel formulations that we believe will result in improved antibiotic and antiviral products. We retain full ownership of all intellectual property, which covers virtually all antibiotic and anti-viral compounds, all dosage forms and routes of pulsatile administration, and all technologies for pulsatile dosing, including our Pulsys technology platform."

Advancis has employed a tiered strategy to protect the company's intellectual property, providing for umbrella patents to cover the primary anti-infectives therapeutic classes, patents covering the compound sub-classes, and finally, coverage for specific drugs and combinations. The company's patent portfolio consists of 35 patent filings (14 of which are international). There are currently 12 products in the pipeline with four products in clinical trials. Advancis expects to have its first products on the market in 2005.

About Advancis: Advancis is a privately held specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of anti-infective therapeutics that improve efficacy and patient compliance, reduce drug resistance and decrease length of therapy. Advancis has developed a once-daily drug delivery technology, Pulsys, which delivers rapid sequential pulsatile dosing of antibiotics and anti-virals for the purpose of improving drug efficacy. By examining the resistance patterns of bacteria and applying its improved drug delivery technologies, Advancis has the potential to re-define the paradigm of infection treatment and significantly improve currently marketed products.

Advancis Pharmaceutical Corporation

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