CDR Therapeutics Inc. established to develop new class of small molecule compounds that mimic monoclonal antibodies; CDR Receives $6 Million in First Round of Financing.

SEATTLE--(HealthWire)--Sept. 30, 1996--CDR Therapeutics, Inc. today announced the formation of a new business to develop drugs for therapeutic applications in the treatment of cancer, autoimmune diseases, transplant rejection, eye injury and skin diseases. The initial focus of the Company will be to develop small molecules that mimic the active component of monoclonal antibodies, which are increasingly being utilized for a variety of therapeutic applications. These small molecules, which represent a new class of drugs, have the potential to be more efficacious, less toxic, and less expensive to manufacture than antibodies. The Company plans to find appropriate pharmaceutical partners in the areas of dermatology and ophthalmology for some of its lead products and maintain rights to therapeutic applications in oncology and immunology. To date, CDR has raised six million dollars in initial funding from The Sprout Group, Alta Partners (the successor fund to Burr, Egan, Deleage), Sofinnova and Arch Partners. Philippe Chambon, M.D., Ph.D. of The Sprout Group and Jean Deleage of Alta Partners have accepted positions on the Board of Directors.

"I am excited about the potential therapeutic applications of this small molecule mimic technology," said Ron Berenson, M.D., President and CEO of CDR Therapeutics. "CDR Therapeutics is developing a new class of products that combines specific monoclonal antibodies with favorable pharmaceutical properties of small molecule-based drugs."

The technology used to develop these small molecule compounds was invented by Mark Greene, M.D., Ph.D., and co-researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, the Wistar Institute and Colorado State University. Dr. Greene is Professor and Vice Chairman, Division of Immunobiology in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. The Company has obtained an exclusive license from the University of Pennsylvania for the technology as well as the compounds themselves. A broad-based patent covering this technology was recently allowed by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Based on a long-standing interest in the proteins of the immunoglobulin superfamily, including many growth factor receptors, oncogene products, and monoclonal antibodies, Dr. Greene has developed a technology that makes it possible to analyze immunoglobulin superfamily proteins and to develop small molecules that simulate the activity of these proteins. The active site of these proteins, known as complementarity-determining regions (CDR), are small regions of the protein that bind to defined targets. Dr. Greene has developed a series of CDR mimics that are synthetic molecules which represent less than 1% of the total protein and retain the biological activity of the parent protein.

"Several of these compounds have been designed to target a variety of receptors," said Dr. Greene. "They have demonstrated biological activity both in the laboratory and in relevant animal models. We are now in a position to develop these compounds for a variety of clinical applications."

The Company initially plans to focus on the clinical development of its lead compounds for therapeutic applications in oncology, dermatology and ophthalmology. One lead anti-cancer compound has been demonstrated to bind to an oncogene product and suppress the growth of a variety of tumors in laboratory tests and in animal models. A second lead compound is a potent immunosuppressive agent that blocks the activation of lymphocytes and has been demonstrated to inhibit inflammatory responses in animal models. This compound initially will be pursued as a topical agent for the treatment of the common inflammatory skin disorder, psoriasis. Another lead compound stimulates the growth of epithelial cells found in the cornea of the eye. This compound will be developed as topical eye drops to be used after corneal injury or surgery. The Company expects that several of these lead compounds will be in human clinical trials within the next two years.

Established in 1996, CDR Therapeutics, Inc. is focused on developing small molecules that mimic binding regions or complementarity-determining regions of immunoglobulin proteins such as monoclonal antibodies. The Company is currently developing several compounds to target cancer, autoimmune diseases, inflammatory skin diseases, transplant rejection and corneal injury or surgery.

CONTACT: CDR Therapeutics, Inc.

Ron Berenson, M.D.

President and CEO

206/292-6234

or

Burns McClellan, Inc.

Karen Bergman

212/505-1919