SUNNYVALE, CA--(Marketwire - July 26, 2011) - Amarantus BioSciences, Inc. (OTCBB: AMBS), a biotechnology company developing MANF, a first-in-class, disease-modifying therapeutic protein that addresses an underlying form of cell death known as apoptosis, announced positive results from a pre-clinical experiment demonstrating that MANF significantly reduces the behavioral deficits caused by the neurotoxin 6-OHDA in a standard animal model of Parkinson’s disease. The experiments were funded by a research grant from the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research and presented at a meeting of the Company's Scientific Advisory Board ("SAB") on April 29, 2011, confirming data previously reported in The Journal of Neuroscience on July 29, 2009.
"The data sets presented at the SAB meeting in April, combined with peer-reviewed data reported in the scientific literature, demonstrate that MANF is a powerful neuroprotectant that prevents the loss of neuronal viability and function from injury in cellular and rodent models of Parkinson's disease," said Eugene M. Johnson PhD, current Amarantus scientific advisor and Professor of Neurology and of Developmental Biology at Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis. "The breadth of data reported to date, taken together with these new results, indicates that Amarantus has a sound basis to further investigate MANF as a disease-modifying therapeutic protein drug candidate in the MPTP non-human primate model of Parkinson's disease."
"Since 2003, 14 papers have been published in highly-respected peer-reviewed journals describing MANF's ability to rescue neurons from death in a variety of cellular and animal models of CNS disease," said John W. Commissiong PhD, Chief Scientific Officer of Amarantus who discovered MANF. "The data presented at the SAB meeting confirms critical aspects of that work and will allow the Company to focus the MANF Parkinson's development program on the required protocols to gain regulatory approval to initiate human clinical studies."
"We are very encouraged by the data set presented at the April SAB meeting," said Martin D. Cleary, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Amarantus. "Parkinson's disease is the centerpiece of Amarantus' internal CNS development effort and meeting this critical milestone internally validates the published literature which describes MANF's broad anti-apoptosis potential, while adding value to the extensive MANF intellectual property portfolio the Company owns and is actively prosecuting to treat CNS and other disease categories. We will now focus our CNS efforts on the advancement of the MANF product development program for Parkinson's disease by executing the protocols required to gain Investigational New Drug status with the FDA."
About Amarantus BioSciences, Inc.
Amarantus BioSciences, Inc. is engaged in the research and development of first-in-class disease-modifying treatments that address the underlying cause of cell death, known as apoptosis, associated with a wide range of diseases. The Company's most advanced product candidate, MANF, is a therapeutic protein indicated for the treatment of Parkinson's disease and Myocardial Infarction. Currently incubating at the Parkinson's Institute in Sunnyvale, CA, Amarantus BioSciences is the recipient of a research grant from The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research. See www.Amarantus.com.
Forward Looking Safe-Harbor Statement:
The information provided herein may include forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, and Section 21E of the Exchange Act of 1934. These forward-looking statements are largely based on our current expectations and projections about future events and financial trends affecting the financial condition of our business. Such forward-looking statements include, in particular, statements about our plans, strategies, business prospects, and the ongoing and future development of disease modifying treatments. These forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of terms and phrases such as "anticipates", "believes", "can", "could", "estimates", "expects", "forecasts", "intends", "may", "plans", "projects", "targets", "will", and similar expressions or variations of these terms and similar phrases. Additionally, statements concerning future matters such as planned research and development and the regulatory approval, marketing, and sale of planned future and other statements regarding matters that are not historical are forward-looking statements. Management cautions that these forward-looking statements relate to future events or our future financial performance and are subject to business, economic, and other risks and uncertainties, both known and unknown, that may cause actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements of our business or our industry to be materially different from those expressed or implied by any forward-looking statements.
These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected, including without limitation, the following: (a) the risk that our product candidate MANF, which is still under clinical development, may not obtain regulatory approval or be successfully commercialized; (b) the risk that extensive regulatory requirements may limit the scope of future sales or impede successful product commercialization even if we obtain regulatory approval for our product candidate; (c) the risk that we may be unable to arrange for the successful manufacture and commercial supply of our planned product; (d) the risk that MANF, if approved and brought to market, may not be accepted by the medical community; (e) the risk that we may not be successful in undertaking the steps currently planned in order to increase our liquidity and capital resources, resulting in inadequate funding for our planned research and development activities; and (f) other risks and uncertainties described in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Neither management nor any other person assumes responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of the forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements in this press release are made as of the date hereof, based on information available to us as of the date hereof, and subsequent facts or circumstances may contradict, obviate, undermine, or otherwise fail to support or substantiate such statements. We caution you not to rely on these statements without also considering the risks and uncertainties associated with these statements and our business that are addressed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission that are available on the SEC's web site located at www.sec.gov. Certain information included in this press release may supersede or supplement forward-looking statements in our other Exchange Act reports filed with the SEC. We assume no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to conform such statements to actual results or to changes in our expectations, except as required by applicable law or regulation.
