PARIS, October 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- ExonHit Therapeutics S.A. (Alternext : ALEHT), a drug and diagnostic discovery company, announces today that it will work actively to provide a blood-based diagnostic test for atherosclerosis.
Atherosclerosis is responsible for half of all deaths in Europe and the United States of America. Atherosclerosis, a disease of the large arteries, is characterized by a thickening of the vessel walls due to atherosclerotic plaques, which are deposits of cholesterol and other substances. As the plaques are deposited inside the vessel walls, the lumen is decreased thereby reducing blood flow through the arteries.
It is now clear that atherosclerosis is not simply an inevitable degenerative consequence of ageing, but rather a chronic inflammatory condition that can result in acute clinical conditions via plaque rupture and thrombosis. There are many risk factors for atherosclerosis: hyperlipidemia, hypertension, diabetes, smoking, infections, genetic predisposition. These different factors, directly or indirectly, damage the arterial endothelium. Cascades of cellular and biochemical events follow the damages: recruitment of immune cells, smooth muscle and endothelial cells, undifferentiated or progenitor cells, lipid penetration; all of which contribute to plaque formation.
Over the past years, new investigative tools have contributed to a clearer understanding of the mechanisms underlying plaque formation. The lesion forming and the vessel wall remodelling processes together with the role of different cell types are better understood. This recent data should enable the development of new diagnostics which will lead to improving atherosclerosis treatment. There is no blood-based test currently available to identify atherosclerotic plaque and define the state of that plaque. Non-invasive tests such as high-resolution ultrasounds or scanners can assist in locating plaque but they are not used for screening purposes.
ExonHit's Scientific Advisory Board, chaired by Professeur Pierre Chambon, Director of the Genopole in Strasbourg and Honorary Professor at the College de France, which also includes Professeur Pierre Corvol, Professeur, Cardiologist, Researcher at the College de France, has stated that ExonHit has a robust technology, that can be industrialized and that can bring essential development in that field.
ExonHit's technology allows the discovery of specific alterations in gene expression in every cell type and is suited to identify molecular alterations bound to pathological conditions such as atherosclerosis. The objective is to identify a panel of genes from different cells in the blood that characterize the stage of development of the plaques. Diagnostics will be designed from blood specimens collected from patients at risk in the course of clinical trials.
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About ExonHit Therapeutics
ExonHit Therapeutics is the world's leader in the analysis of alternative RNA splicing, a process which when deregulated plays a key role in the onset of various diseases.
ExonHit has a multi-component commercial strategy to capture the maximum value from its leadership in alternative splicing. The Company is already generating revenues from a new generation of microarrays, "SpliceArrays," that enable life science researchers to detect crucial disease-associated information. These products are marketed worldwide in conjunction with Agilent and Affymetrix. In the field of diagnostics, ExonHit has a major collaboration with bioMerieux to develop completely novel predictive blood-based cancer diagnostics, which could play a key role in improving the treatment of breast cancer and other major cancers.
In parallel, ExonHit is developing its own therapeutic pipeline in the field of neurodegenerative diseases and cancer. The Company has advanced drug candidates into clinical trials and is evaluating several promising pre-clinical compounds. ExonHit also has a strategic partnership with Allergan, to discover and develop new therapeutics in the areas of pain, neurological diseases and ophthalmology. This collaboration provides on-going research funding to ExonHit.
Founded in 1997, ExonHit is headquartered in Paris, France and has a U.S. facility in Gaithersburg, Maryland. The Company is listed on Alternext of Euronext Paris since November 17, 2005.
Contacts ExonHit Therapeutics Bruno Tocque, C.E.O. Tel: +33-1-58-05-47-00 Philippe Rousseau, C.F.O. philippe.rousseau@exonhit.com
This press release includes only summary information and does not purport to be comprehensive. The projections, forecast and estimates of ExonHit Therapeutics which may be contained herein are for illustrative purposes only and are based on management's current views and assumptions. Such projections, forecast and estimates involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, as described at Section 4.2 "Facteurs de risque" (Risk Factors) of the Document de Base available on ExonHit Therapeutics' website (www.exonhit.com), that may cause actual results, performance or events to differ materially from those anticipated in the summary information.
In addition, ExonHit Therapeutics, its shareholders, and its affiliates, directors, officers, advisors and employees have not verified the accuracy of, and make no representations or warranties in relation to, statistical data or predictions contained in this press release that were taken or derived from third party sources or industry publications, and such statistical data and predictions are used in this press release for information purposes only.
Finally, this press release may be drafted in the French and English languages. In an event of differences between the texts, the French language version shall prevail.
ExonHit Therapeutics SACONTACT: ExonHit Therapeutics, Bruno Tocque, C.E.O. Tel:+33-1-58-05-47-00, Philippe Rousseau, C.F.O. philippe.rousseau@exonhit.com
