Prana Biotechnology Provides Additional Comment on PBT2 in Response
to Recent Press Coverage and Share Price Activity
Monday July 24, 8:30 am ET
Prana Biotechnology Limited (Nasdaq: PRAN, ASX: PBT) wishes to
provide the following additional information in response to the
extensive media coverage and public interest that has arisen from
the recent release of encouraging results from testing of its lead
compound, PBT2.
On July 19, 2006, Professor Ashley Bush, MD, PhD, of the Mental
Health Research Institute of Victoria (Australia) and co-founding
scientist of Prana Biotechnology, presented data at the 10th
International Conference on Alzheimer's Disease (ICAD) in Madrid
demonstrating that in mouse models(1) PBT2:
* improved memory performance within five (5) days of oral
dosing,
* rapidly reduced the levels of soluble beta-amyloid ("Abeta")
in the
brain, and
* restored normal function to Abeta impaired synapses.
PBT2 is a new generation MPAC (Metal Protein Attenuating Compound)
specifically designed by Prana Biotechnology's internal chemistry
department to target beta-amyloid, which is believed to be the
protein involved in the formation of plaques in the brain that cause
Alzheimer's disease.
The recent results are highly encouraging with rodent studies of
PBT2, showing that brain concentration of PBT2 is about 50-fold
greater than PBT1 (clioquinol) for an IV equivalent dose. PBT1 was
found to halt cognitive decline in a previous pilot Phase IIa
Alzheimer's patient study.
During national (Australia) news interviews conducted over the
weekend, the Company's chairman and CEO, Geoffrey Kempler, stressed
that safety studies in animals and healthy humans (Phase I single
and multiple dose) indicate that PBT2 is well tolerated at doses
proposed for Alzheimer's treatment. However, it will be at least
five to six years before a therapeutic could be developed for
commercial sale.
On the basis of the encouraging results achieved to date, Prana is
planning to commence a Phase II double-blind, placebo controlled
trial of PBT2 in Alzheimer's patients in the fourth quarter of this
year. If this trial is successful, it may lead to a larger Phase III
trial before the Company may apply for regulatory approval for
registration of a therapeutic.
About Prana Biotechnology Limited
Prana Biotechnology was established to commercialize research into
Alzheimer's disease and other major age-related neuro-degenerative
disorders. The company was incorporated in 1997 and listed on the
Australian Stock Exchange in March 2000 and listed on NASDAQ in
September 2002. Researchers at prominent international institutions
including the University of Melbourne, The Mental Health Research
Institute and Massachusetts General Hospital, a teaching hospital of
Harvard Medical School, discovered Prana's technology.
For further information, please visit the Company's web site at
www.pranabio.com.
Contacts:
Investor Relations Media Relations
Kathy Price Ivette Almeida
The Global Consulting Group The Global Consulting Group
T: 646-284-9430 T: 646-284-9455
E: [EMAIL PROTECTED] E: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
(1) The sample sizes studied in the test conducted by Professor
Bush and
his colleagues were:
Morris Water maze study: n=7 (dosed) and 7 (vehicle)
24h study in 15month old Tg mice at 30mg/kg: n=7 (treated)
and 8
(vehicle)
LTP experiment: n=8 (in each of 4 conditions)
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Source: Prana Biotechnology Limited
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