KineMed, Inc. Announces Data From Program To Discover New Treatments For Neurodegenerative Diseases And Disorders Of Mood And Cognition

EMERYVILLE, Calif., April 3 /PRNewswire/ -- KineMed, Inc., a pathway-based drug discovery and development company, announced today that the Company's high-throughput, stable isotope labeling-mass spectrometric technology has successfully quantified proliferation of different types of cells within the brain associated with neurodegenerative diseases and with disorders of mood and cognition. The data were presented in two posters at the Experimental Biology 2006 meeting in San Francisco.

In one poster entitled, "Measurement Of Hippocampal Progenitor Cell (PC) Proliferation Rates In Vivo: A Biomarker For Discovering Novel Neurogenic Agents", KineMed's technology platform sensitively quantified progenitor cell proliferation and neurogenesis in vivo in the hippocampus, a brain region that is involved in disorders of mood and cognition. Company researchers have confirmed the neurogenic effects of several classes of known anti-depressant drugs and, importantly, have discovered previously unrecognized neurogenic properties of several drugs currently approved for non-CNS indications.

As covered in a second poster entitled, "Measurement Of Brain Microglial Proliferation Rates In Vivo: A Biomarker For Discovering Novel Anti- neuroinflammatory Agents", KineMed's researchers reported that they were able to quantify the formation of new microglia cells, immune cells resident within the central nervous system that mediate neuroinflammation and contribute to the pathogenesis of many neurodegenerative diseases. KineMed has successfully used this technology to discover a potent and novel suppressor of neuroinflammation (13-cis-retinoic acid), the activity of which was subsequently confirmed in an in vivo model of multiple sclerosis.

Marc Hellerstein, M.D., Ph.D., Chairman of KineMed's Scientific Advisory Board, stated, "The results being reported this week are important, as they attest to the power of the pathway-based drug discovery approach. In neuroinflammation, we have succeeded at discovering a highly potent agent not previously recognized to have anti-neuroinflammatory actions, based on the greater sensitivity, reproducibility and throughput of KineMed's marker than other tests. In addition, KineMed's biomarker of hippocampal neurogenesis is now allowing us to test the neurogenic theory of depression, which has received considerable attention in recent years but had previously been difficult to exploit as a strategy for new drug discovery. It is remarkable that we have in the course of a few months discovered two new classes of neurogenic agents, compounds shown to have clear dose-response relationships, shared class effects, and comparable or superior potency to drugs like Prozac (fluoxetine)."

David Fineman, President and CEO of KineMed, commented, "The findings presented at EB2006 confirm the power of indications discovery when the effect on complex metabolic pathways is measured in vivo using KineMed's highly sensitive biomarkers. Our platform allows us to more accurately detect subtle drug effects and, in the case of our Neurogenesis KineMarker, to demonstrate in a whole body system the links between a chemical event and behavior."

KineMed KineMarker(TM) Product Programs in Neurobiology

KineMed's proprietary in vivo KineMarker(TM) assays provide new, sensitive and high-throughput measures of several key biological pathways involved in the pathogenesis and treatment of psychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders. These assays can be used in clinical, as well as preclinical, settings.

KineMed's Neuroinflammation and Neurogenesis KineMarkers(TM) are more sensitive, reproducible and high-throughput than traditional methods, such as histological staining, and are safer than traditional radioisotope labeling methods.

Areas of neurobiology where KineMed has active discovery programs include mood disorders, ALS, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and diabetic neuropathy, as well as disorders of learning and memory.

About KineMed, Inc.

KineMed, Inc. is a pathway-based drug development company employing its proprietary biomarker technology (AquaTag(TM) and KineMarker(TM)) to measure the real-time activity of drugs in whole body systems. KineMed is developing therapeutics both on its own and with pharma collaborators, efficiently translating compounds into drugs with a desired biological effect on validated disease pathways. KineMed's technology expedites the drug development process and has demonstrated results in metabolic disorders, neurodegeneration, diseases of inflammation and cancer, among other conditions.

For further information about KineMed, please visit: http://www.kinemed.com

CONTACT: Brent Vaughan, Chief Business Officer of KineMed, Inc.,+1-510-655-6525, ext. 110; or Media - Justin Jackson of Burns McClellan,+1-212-213-0006, jjackson@burnsmc.com, for KineMed, Inc.

Web site: http://www.kinemed.com//