Preclinical Data On Ascenta Therapeutics Pipeline Presented At The AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference On Molecular Targets And Cancer Therapeutics In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

SAN DIEGO, Nov. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Ascenta Therapeutics Inc., a privately-held clinical stage biopharmaceutical company today announced the presentation of three key pipeline programs at the International Conference on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics in Philadelphia, PA, jointly held by the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC).

Ascenta's lead compound AT-101, an orally bioavailable pan-Bcl-2 inhibitor, is currently in Phase II clinical trials and clinical trial data was presented on this product at the conference. Ascenta and its collaborators at the University of Michigan also presented new data on three small-molecule agents against several targets in the company's pipeline: ApoG2, an orally bioavailable pan-Bcl-2 inhibitor with uniquely potent activity against the Mcl-1 protein; SM-122 (SH-122), a potent and specific Smac mimetic designed to target multiple inhibitors of apoptosis proteins (IAPs); and MI-43, a potent, highly specific antagonist of the p53-MDM2 protein interaction.

"These three compounds hit highly novel and scientifically relevant targets in key apoptosis pathways," said Dr. Dajun Yang, Vice President of Research at Ascenta. "They speak to the strength of Ascenta's portfolio of next-generation products for the treatment of cancer."

Founded in 2003, Ascenta is a privately-held biopharmaceutical company that discovers and develops targeted new medicines for the treatment of cancer. The company has offices in San Diego, California and a preclinical research facility in Shanghai, China. Ascenta's technology is focused on discovering molecules that hit vulnerable targets in endogenous apoptosis pathways and shut down cell growth and proliferation in cancer cells. Ascenta's clinical lead compound and broad pipeline of compounds are licensed from the laboratory of Dr. Shaomeng Wang at the University of Michigan and the National Institutes of Health.

CONTACT: Mark Benedyk, PhD, Vice President, Business Development andIntellectual Property of Ascenta Therapeutics Inc., +1-858-436-1200,mbenedyk@ascenta.com

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