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VDDI PHARMACEUTICALS
AND THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM RECEIVE SECOND
PATENT FOR NOVEL ANTIBIOTICS
BRENTWOOD, TN
AND BIRMINGHAM, AL - June 12, 2003 - VDDI Pharmaceuticals,
a biopharmaceutical development company, and the University
of Alabama at Birmingham today announced receipt of allowance
for a patent from the United States Patent and Trademark
Office for a NADs inhibitor (nicotinamide adenine dinculeotide
synthetase) to treat hospital acquired fungal infections.
This is the second
patent of its kind produced by the partnership between VDDI
and UAB. The two organizations have more than 20 patents
pending in this family of antibiotics in the U.S. and internationally,
covering the NADs inhibitor technology for all human, animal,
and plant uses.
With this technology,
the compounds interact with a unique, and unexploited, microbial
target (NAD synthetase), to inhibit bacterial and fungal
growth. It was discovered at UAB's Center for Biophysical
Sciences and Engineering and licensed exclusively to VDDI
by the UAB Research Foundation.
"Hospital
acquired fungal infections, particularly those resistant
to currently available therapies, are a critical health
care concern and a difficult medical condition to treat,"
said Dr. R. Stephen Porter, President and CEO of VDDI. "That
is the target of this new chemical class, and we are anxious
to develop it further."
The compounds,
which are also effective against bacterial targets, including
anthrax, are being further developed under a cooperative
agreement between VDDI and the Department of Defense.
VDDI Pharmaceuticals
is a privately held biopharmaceutical development company
committed to building a portfolio of products with significant
commercial potential in select therapeutic areas. VDDI's
initial focus is on developing products for infectious diseases
of bacterial or fungal origins, a global market currently
exceeding $30 billion per year.
The UABRF is
the technology transfer organization of the University of
Alabama at Birmingham. The UAB-CBSE is dedicated to understanding
the structure and function of macromolecules as applied
to new drug discovery via intelligent or structure-based,
chemical design.
Statements included
in this press release that are not historical in nature
are "forward-looking statements within the meaning
of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. You should be
aware that our actual results could differ materially from
those contained in the forward-looking statements, which
are based on management's current expectations and are subject
to a number of risks and uncertainties, including but not
limited to, our failure to successfully commercialize our
products, costs and delays in the development and FDA approval
of our products; our inability to enter into or maintain,
and the risks resulting from our dependence upon, collaboration
or contractual arrangements necessary for the development,
manufacture, commercialization, marketing, sales and distribution
of our products; competitive factors; our inability to protect
our patents or proprietary rights and obtain necessary rights
to third party patents and intellectual property to operate
our business; our inability to operate our business without
infringing the patents and proprietary rights of others
general economic conditions; the failure of our products
to gain market acceptance; our inability to obtain any additional
required financing; technological changes; government regulation;
changes in industry practice; and one-time events. We do
not intend to update any of these factors or to publicly
announce the results of any revisions to these forward-looking
statements.
VDDI Pharmaceuticals
is on the Internet at www.virtualdrugdevelopment.com
The UAB-CBSE can be located at www.cbse.uab.edu
CONTACT: R. Stephen Porter, Pharm.D.
President and CEO
VDDI Pharmaceuticals
1616 Westgate Circle
Brentwood, TN 37027-0018
615-467-3080
rsporter@virtualdrugdevelopment.com
Larry DeLucas,
O.D., Ph.D., D.Sc. (Hon.)
UAB-CBSE
1025 18th Street South
Birmingham, AL 35205-4832
205-934-5329
delucas@cbse.uab.edu
Lucy C. Hicks
Director
UABRF
1120G Administration Building
701 20th Street South
Birmingham, Alabama 35294-0111
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