HOUSTON, TX--(MARKET WIRE)--May 28, 2009 -- Power3 Medical Products, Inc. (OTC BB:PWRM.OB - News) announced today a significant breakthrough related to the diagnosis of patients with Alzheimer’s. This breakthrough, which involved the successful diagnoses of different forms of Alzheimer’s, including high-risk patients, was achieved during the initial phase of clinical validation trials of the Company’s NuroPro® AD blood test. Prospective clinical validation trials of the NuroPro® AD for newly drawn samples, phase one for which is now complete, confirmed previous results recorded by Power3.
The NuroPro AD test was developed to help clinicians diagnose patients with Alzheimer’s, as well as to distinguish those with Alzheimer’s from normal individuals and patients with other neurological disorders. The NuroPro test, developed by Power3, utilizes a panel of blood serum protein biomarkers to determine the probability that a patient has Alzheimer’s. The tests are intended to solve a critical challenge facing physicians, clinicians, and patients toward an objective, early stage and accurate diagnosis of actual disease.
“In the US, there are an estimated 5.1 million individuals with Alzheimer’s disease,” said Power3’s President and Chief Scientific Officer, Dr. Ira L. Goldknopf. “The annual treatment per patient is currently in excess of $30 thousand for Alzheimer’s.”
“Roughly half of the Alzheimer’s disease patients possess a gene variant that indicates a higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease than the general population. However, roughly 15% of normal individuals also possess this gene variant. There are also other genetic risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease,” continued Dr. Goldknopf. “Therefore, unfortunately, positive genetic tests do not inform the patient that they have the disease. They merely let them know they have a higher risk for developing it.”
These latest results are from the completion of the initial phase of clinical validation trials of Power3’s NuroPro® AD tests. These tests are being conducted with newly drawn blood serum samples from 50 Alzheimer’s disease patients, together with 50 age matched normal controls, as provided by Dr. Marwan Sabbagh, Medical Director of the Banner Sun Health Research Institute, Sun City, Arizona. These initial results also confirm that the test distinguishes patients with different forms of Alzheimer’s disease, including high-risk patients, from normal individuals, including high risk individuals without disease.
“This feature of the NuroPro AD test also increased the sensitivity for detection of Alzheimer’s, without genetic testing. The fact that these results were obtained using fresh blood serum from patients, in the same way that the test will be performed in a clinical diagnostic setting, provides further support for the clinical usefulness of these findings,” added Dr. Goldknopf.
Power3 is conducting the independent validation of both their Alzheimer’s (NuroPro AD) and Parkinson’s (NuroPro PD) tests with key clinical centers. The second phase of these prospective trials, as well as the launch of the CLIA-certified testing services, are both slated to commence sometime in late 2009.
According to Helen R. Park, CEO of Power3, “Progress thus far of the Company’s clinical validation trials confirms our belief that Power3’s NuroPro AD will significantly help physicians make diagnoses and recommend appropriate follow-up and treatment options for their patients, based on the presence of disease. This is a huge advance over only being capable of informing a patient that his or her risk is high.”
About Power3 Medical Products, Inc
Power3 Medical Products (OTC BB:PWRM.OB - News) (www.power3medical.com) is a leader in bio-medical research and the commercialization of neurodegenerative disease and cancer biomarkers, pathways, and mechanisms of diseases through the development of diagnostic tests and drug targets. Power3’s patent-pending technologies are being used to develop screening and diagnostic tests for the early detection and prognosis of disease, identify protein biomarkers, and drug targets, and its diagnostic tests are targeted toward markets with critical unmet needs in areas including neurodegenerative disease (NuroPro) and breast cancer (BC-SeraPro). Power3 expects to complete phase II clinical validation trials of its blood serum diagnostics for Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease (NuroPro AD and PD), in the fourth quarter of 2009, followed by completion of filing with the FDA. Power3 operates a state-of-the-art CLIA certified laboratory in The Woodlands (Houston), and continues to evolve and enhance its IP portfolio, employing sensitive and specific combinations of biomarkers it has discovered from a broad range of diseases as the basis of highly selective blood-based tests for ALS, Alzheimer’s, and Parkinson’s diseases, breast cancer, and drug resistance.
Cautionary Statements
Certain statements in this press release constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such statements. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, those with respect to management’s current views and estimates of future economic circumstances, industry conditions, company performance and financial results, including the ability of the Company to grow its involvement in the diagnostic products and services markets. The known risks, uncertainties and other factors affecting these forward-looking statements are described from time to time in reports to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Any change in such factors, risks and uncertainties may cause the actual results, events and performance to differ materially from those referred to in such statements. Accordingly, the company claims the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 with respect to all statements contained in this press release. Contact:
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