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Lpath Humanizes Its Anti-S1P Antibody Sphingomab(TM)

12 Jun 2006

SAN DIEGO, CA, USA | Jun 12, 2006 | Lpath, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: LPTN - News), the category leader in therapeutic agents

against bioactive lipids, today announced the successful humanization of its Sphingomab(TM) monoclonal antibody against sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P). S1P is an important bioactive lipid that has been well validated as a cancer drug target.

Humanized versions of antibodies are preferred because they may be administered multiple times to cancer patients without eliciting an immune response. Findings that demonstrate the profound anti-cancer effects of Sphingomab were recently published in the prestigious journal, Cancer Cell

The murine (mouse-based) form of Sphingomab was the first antibody created using Lpath's proprietary ImmuneY2(TM) technology. This proprietary technology provides Lpath a platform from which to generate antibodies against other important bioactive lipids.

"Creating humanized versions of our anti-S1P antibody is a critical milestone in our product development plan," said Scott Pancoast, Lpath's president and chief executive officer. "Our next step is the selection of a candidate from the humanized variants that we will advance to clinical development. We look to accomplish this during the next few months."

The antibody was humanized for Lpath by the Therapeutic Antibody Group (TAG) of Medical Research Council Technology (MRCT) in London, England. Dr. Tarran Jones, director of TAG, commented, "We are delighted to have been able to provide Lpath with humanized versions of its anti-S1P antibody and look forward to working with Lpath to produce a clinical candidate. Several of the humanized antibodies produced to date retain the desired binding characteristics. This collaborative project marks the 29th monoclonal antibody that we have successfully humanized using our proprietary humanization technology."

About Humanized Antibodies

Monoclonal antibody humanization is important for drugs that are to be administered multiple times to individual patients. Research antibodies are typically made in mice and are called murine antibodies.

Murine antibodies are not ideal for human clinical use because the immune system of patients can potentially identify the murine antibody as foreign and produce a Human Anti-Mouse Antibody (HAMA) immune response in an attempt to neutralize the murine antibody.

Monoclonal antibody humanization is a technique where specific regions of the mouse antibody not involved in target binding are replaced with human- antibody-framework sequences, thereby producing a final drug candidate that is predominately human. The resulting humanized antibody has the targeting characteristics of the original mouse antibody, but generally does not contain enough mouse-related structures to be recognized by the human body as foreign. This reduces or eliminates the HAMA response and makes repeated dosing possible and potentially more effective.

About Lpath

Lpath, headquartered in San Diego, is a theranostics company focused on bioactive signaling lipids as targets for treating and diagnosing important human diseases, including cancer, heart failure, and various ocular indications. Lpath's lead product candidate, Sphingomab, has demonstrated compelling results against several different forms of human solid tumors as well as lymphoma and myeloma cancers in pre-clinical animal studies. Like Avastin® (Genentech's blockbuster cancer drug), Sphingomab is anti-angiogenic (i.e., attacks the blood supply of tumors), but Sphingomab has other mechanisms of action that may prove advantageous in the clinical setting. As such, although Genentech pioneered the anti-angiogenesis approach to treating cancer, Lpath believes Sphingomab may prove to be the next generation of anti-angiogenesis-based therapeutics.

Lpath's unique ability to generate antibodies against bioactive lipids is based on its ImmuneY2 technology. The company is currently applying the ImmuneY2 process to other important lipid-signaling agents that are validated targets for disease treatment. ImmuneY2 offers a potential pipeline of antibody-based drug candidates and positions Lpath as the category leader in therapeutics that target bioactive lipids.

About the TAG at MRCT

MRCT is the technology transfer company of the UK Medical Research Council (MRC) and is responsible for commercialization of MRC research. MRCT works with MRC scientists to identify research with commercial potential, facilitates research collaborations, adds value to new technologies through strategic patent protection, and markets new technologies to industry. MRCT also helps establish start-up companies based on MRC technology. The TAG at MRCT comprises scientists from Aeres Biomedical, a company incubated by MRC and now re-joined to the parent organization.

Forward-Looking Statements

Except for statements of historical fact, the matters discussed in this press release are forward looking and reflect numerous assumptions and involve a variety of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control and may cause actual results to differ materially from stated expectations. For example, there can be no assurance that required clinical trials will be successful, necessary regulatory approvals will be obtained, or the proposed treatments will prove to be safe or effective. Actual results may also differ substantially from those described in or contemplated by this press release due to risks and uncertainties that exist in our operations and business environment, including, without limitation, our limited experience in the development of therapeutic drugs, our dependence upon proprietary technology, our history of operating losses and accumulated deficits, our reliance on research grants, current and future competition, and other risks described from time to time in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We undertake no obligation to release publicly the results of any revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances arising after the date hereof.

Contact:
Investor Relations
Liolios Group, Inc.
Scott Liolios or Ron Both
949-574-3860

SOURCE: Lpath, Inc

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