AngioChem Granted First U.S. Patent Covering Angiopep-2, an Engineered Peptide for Drugs to Cross the Blood-Brain Barrier.

Montreal, Canada, July 9, 2009 – AngioChem, a biotechnology company discovering and developing drugs that are uniquely capable of crossing the blood-brain barrier, announced today that its first patent has been granted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark office. U.S. Patent Number 7,557,182 is entitled “Aprotinin polypeptides for transporting a compound across the blood-brain barrier” and covers the Angiopep-2 EPiC peptide and conjugates, including ANG1005. ANG1005 is AngioChem’s lead drug candidate currently being evaluated in two distinct Phase I/II clinical trials for cancers of the brain, and positive clinical data were recently presented on ANG1005 at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) annual meeting in April 2009.

“This patent is part of the company's large EPiC intellectual property portfolio and we believe that the issuance of this U.S. patent recognizes the novelty and inventiveness of Angiochem’s platform technology for efficient transport of an array of therapeutics across the blood brain barrier,” stated Dr. Jean-Paul Castaigne, CEO of AngioChem.

About AngioChem //AngioChem is a clinical-stage biotechnology company discovering and developing new breakthrough drugs that are uniquely capable of crossing the blood-brain barrier to treat brain diseases. These new Engineered Peptide Compounds (EPiC) have the potential to address significant medical needs, many of which cannot be effectively addressed due to the fundamental physiological challenge the blood-brain barrier presents for therapeutic intervention. AngioChem’s lead product candidate, ANG1005, is in two separate Phase 1/2 clinical studies in patients with primary brain cancers and in cancer metastases. Additionally, AngioChem is developing a deep and broad product pipeline, including small and large molecules, for the treatment of a wide range of brain diseases and related disorders, including brain cancer, cancer metastases, neurodegenerative and metabolic diseases. Founded in 2006, AngioChem maintains headquarters in Montreal, Canada. For additional information about the Company, please visit http://www.angiochem.com.

About ANG1005 // ANG1005 is a novel taxane derivative, created from the Engineered Peptide Compound (EPiC) platform. Studies have shown that ANG1005 gains entry into the brain compartment by targeting the low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein (LRP) which is one of the most highly expressed receptors on the surface of the BBB. Once inside the brain, ANG1005 enters tumor cells using the same receptor-mediated pathway through LRP, which is upregulated in various cancer cells including malignant glioma and metastatic cancers in the brain. To date, data from the on-going studies show compelling early efficacy results validating that ANG1005 crosses the blood-brain barrier efficiently and accumulates at high concentrations in brain tumors leading to significant tumor shrinkage and improvement of disabling neurologic symptoms in patients who have failed on prior therapy with anti-cancer drugs.