Altair Nanotechnologies Advances New Pharmaceutical; Altair's New Drug For Kidney Dialysis Patients To Be Compared With Competitive Products.Business Editors & Health/Medical Writers RENO, Nev.--(BW HealthWire)--Aug. 1, 2002 Altair Nanotechnologies Inc. (Nasdaq:ALTI) today announced that it has signed a confidential disclosure agreement ("CDA (1) (Compact Disc Audio) The compact disc file extension that is seen on the computer in Explorer or some other file manager. CDA files are actually pointers to the locations of the individual tracks on the CD medium. See CD-DA. ") with a major pharmaceutical company. Under the terms of the agreement Altair will present data pertaining per·tain intr.v. per·tained, per·tain·ing, per·tains 1. To have reference; relate: evidence that pertains to the accident. 2. to its new pharmaceutical/new chemical entity ("NCE NCE Networks of Centres of Excellence NCE New Chemical Entity (pharmaceutical research) NCE Normal Curve Equivalent NCE New Civil Engineer (UK Journal) NCE Non-Commercial Educational NCE New Century Energies ") for the treatment of elevated phosphate levels in kidney dialysis Dialysis, Kidney Definition Dialysis treatment replaces the function of the kidneys, which normally serve as the body's natural filtration system. patients. Altair will provide the initial comparisons of its NCE, a phosphate-binding drug, to other materials currently available in the pharmaceutical marketplace. This comparison will include Forsenol(TM), a product from Shire Pharmaceuticals Group that is currently pending FDA FDA abbr. Food and Drug Administration FDA, n.pr See Food and Drug Administration. FDA, n.pr the abbreviation for the Food and Drug Administration. approval. Altair's initial laboratory tests indicated that its NCE displayed certain advantages when compared with the competitive drugs tested. Biological tests will have to be performed to show if these advantages are also significant in animals and humans. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. information published by AnorMED, the worldwide market for phosphate binders Phosphate binders are a group of medications used to reduce the absorption of phosphate and taken with meals and snacks. They are typically used in patients with chronic renal failure (CRF) as they cannot get rid of the phosphate that gets into their blood (i.e. for chronic renal failure chronic renal failure Chronic kidney failure Nephrology A slow decline in renal function, which may be 2º to chronic HTN, DM, CHF, SLE, or sickle cell anemia and, if extreme, leads to ESRD, mandating kidney dialysis; an abrupt decline in renal function may be patients is currently estimated to be $400 million to $600 million. "We are pleased to have our first CDA signed just two weeks after announcing our new products pertaining to the pharmaceutical industry," commented Altair President Dr. Rudi E. Moerck. "We are currently in negotiations with another major pharmaceutical company for the signing of our second CDA and our management team is developing a third CDA with a large company specializing in renal dialysis equipment. "We believe our new ceramic compounds have the added potential advantage of possibly being used to bind phosphate directly in a dialysis device during kidney dialysis. To date, the binding of phosphate during kidney dialysis has not been successfully demonstrated by any company." Altair Nanotechnologies is not a pharmaceutical company; therefore, the company is actively seeking partners to develop its new drug delivery system for an existing pharmaceutical, as well as its new phosphate-binding drug into commercial pharmaceuticals. According to Moerck, the company is encouraged by the interest already shown by three major pharmaceutical companies. The company's next step is to issue evaluation licenses from which Altair can derive revenues and progress payments. "Our strategy is to grant several evaluation licenses or possibly one exclusive license," continued Moerck. "The direction taken will depend on several factors including the speed and ability of a licensee to bring the product to market and the potential short-term and long-term revenue yield." Altair Nanotechnologies Inc. Nanotechnology is rapidly emerging as a unique industry sector. Altair Nanotechnologies is positioning itself through product innovation within this emerging industry to become a leading supplier of nanomaterial technology and nanomaterials worldwide. Altair owns a proprietary technology for making nanocrystalline materials of unique quality both economically and in large quantities. The company is currently developing special nanomaterials with potential applications in pharmaceuticals, batteries, fuel cells, solar cells, advanced energy storage devices, thermal spray Thermal Spray techniques are coating processes which involve spraying melted (or heated) materials onto a surface. As such thermal spraying is a line-of-sight process. The energy to heat the feedstock (coating precursor) is supplied by electrical (plasma or arc) or chemical means coatings, catalysts, cosmetics, paints and environmental remediation Generally, remediation means providing a remedy, so environmental remediation deals with the removal of pollution or contaminants from environmental media such as soil, groundwater, sediment, or surface water for the general protection of human health and the environment or from a . For additional information on Altair and its nanoparticle materials, visit www.altairnano.com. Forward-Looking Statements This release may contain forward-looking statements, as well as historical information. Forward-looking statements, which are included in accordance with the "safe harbor Safe Harbor 1. A legal provision to reduce or eliminate liability as long as good faith is demonstrated. 2. A form of shark repellent implemented by a target company acquiring a business that is so poorly regulated that the target itself is less attractive. " provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (PSLRA) implemented several significant substantive changes affecting certain cases brought under the federal securities laws, including changes related to pleading, discovery, liability, class representation and awards fees and of 1995, may involve risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the company's actual results and performance in future periods to be materially different from any future results or performance suggested by the forward- looking statements in this release. These risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, biological testing of the pharmaceuticals may not be successful, the pharmaceuticals may not obtain FDA approval and Altair, without the assistance of a strategic partner, may not be capable of funding the FDA approval cycle. Additionally, the company may be unable to attract additional customers, fund additional research or product development through its sales and branding campaign. The company may never earn sufficient revenues to be profitable; its nanoparticle products may not be integrated into any major market groups and products. In addition, other risks are identified in the company's most recent annual report on Form 10-K Form 10-K A report required by the SEC from exchange-listed companies that provides for annual disclosure of certain financial information. Form 10-K See 10-K. , as filed with the SEC. Such forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this release. The company expressly disclaims any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements found herein to reflect any changes in company expectations or results or any change in events. |
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