ActivX Biosciences, Inc. Launches Breakthrough Kinase Platform, KiNativ

LA JOLLA, Calif., March 20 /PRNewswire/ -- ActivX Biosciences, Inc announced today the commercial launch of KiNativ(TM), its novel, proprietary platform for the profiling of protein kinases and the analysis of kinase inhibitors.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070320/LATU120LOGO )

Protein kinases comprise a large and medically important family of enzymes that are key regulators of cellular signaling pathways in all higher organisms from yeast to man. Hundreds of kinase inhibitors are in development by pharmaceutical companies for diseases ranging from Alzheimer’s to diabetes to arthritis to cancer. Designing selective and safe kinase inhibitors is a daunting task because there are over 500 human protein kinases and the structural similarities among them are strikingly high.

Dr. John W. Kozarich, Chairman & President of ActivX explained, “Profiling a drug broadly and accurately against as many kinases as possible is the Holy Grail for kinase profiling technologies. The best profiling platforms claim assays for 220 or so kinases well short of the 500 known human kinases. KiNativ’s profiling capability currently stands at ~ 430 kinases and represents a paradigm shift in how kinase activity and inhibitor selectivity will be determined in the future.”

“Other kinase platforms are based the creation of artificial constructs of protein kinases in artificial (recombinant) assay systems,” Kozarich continued. “KiNativ does away with this approach completely. Instead, native kinases, that is, kinases as they occur in living tissues and cells, are directly assayed simultaneously with all the other proteins, nucleic acids, and cellular components that are present in the cell or tissue profiled. KiNativ’s results give a much more accurate assessment of kinase activity and inhibition than can be achieved in other kinase profiling systems. The in vivo relevance of the data is much higher. In addition, KiNativ will work in any species since the technology is based on characteristics that are shared by all kinases, human or otherwise. This greatly simplifies data correlation from animal experiments to human studies.”

KiNativ is an integrated platform combining proprietary chemistry with cutting-edge analytical and computational methods. ActivX is offering a range of approaches for working with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies wishing to access our technology. “Once companies learn about and experience the power of KiNativ, we believe that it will become the sine qua non for kinase research,” Kozarich asserted.

To learn more about KiNativ and its applications, go to www.kinativ.com or call ActivX Biosciences at 858 526-2515.

ActivX is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tokyo-based Kyorin Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. Besides the development of the KiNativ platform, ActivX Biosciences and Kyorin Pharmaceutical are also developing novel therapeutics for respiratory and metabolic diseases, along with other drug discovery efforts.

Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070320/LATU120LOGOAP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.orgPRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.comActivX

CONTACT: Lorrie Daggett, Director, Corporate Planning and Administrationof ActivX Biosciences, Inc, +1-858-526-2505 or +1-858-587-4878

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