OXiGENE Reports Promising Preclinical Data Using OXi4503 in Acute Myelogenous Leukemia Models at American Society of Hematology Conference

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Dec. 7, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- OXiGENE, Inc. (Nasdaq:OXGN) (Stockholm:OXGN), a clinical-stage, biopharmaceutical company developing novel therapeutics to treat cancer and eye diseases, today announced the presentation of data from preclinical studies carried out by Christopher R. Cogle, M.D., Assistant Professor, Medicine, University of Florida, senior author on the poster. The studies were conducted in mouse xenograft and orthotopic models of acute myelogenous leukemia (AML), and showed that OXi4503, a second-generation, dual-action vascular disrupting agent (VDA), demonstrated a higher level of anti-leukemic activity when administered as a single agent or in combination with bevacizumab, an anti-VEGF antibody, than when bevacizumab was used alone. Notably, results showed that OXi4503 alone and in combination with bevacizumab showed more effectiveness in inducing regression of leukemic cells in bone marrow than bevacizumab alone or placebo. The data were presented on Saturday, December 5th, in a poster at the 2009 American Society of Hematology conference.