AEGiS-PRn: New Scientific Data, Patent Filing, Further Support Paracelsian (PRLN) Aids Signal Transduction Drug

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1995. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

New Scientific Data, Patent Filing, Further Support Paracelsian (PRLN) Aids Signal Transduction Drug

PR Newswire - November 7, 1995

ITHACA, N.Y., Nov. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Paracelsian, Inc. (Nasdaq: PRLN), announced today that it had filed a continuation in part (CIP) on its U.S. patent for PN355 (Application 08/349,999) describing further experiments involving the inhibition of the HIV-1 virus (the virus that causes AIDS), as well as details concerning the novel mechanism of action of the drug. Experiments and the results described in the CIP filing were presented November 3 in San Diego at an industry conference entitled, "Controlling Cell Cycle Regulation for Anti- Proliferative Therapeutics."

John Babish, Ph.D., Paracelsian's Vice President of Science, was among a group of invited speakers that included scientists from Bristol-Myers Squibb, Glaxo Wellcome, The Scripps Institute, Cold Spring Harbor and The Upjohn Company.

PN355 has demonstrated extremely low toxicity to laboratory animals, while displaying high activity against human cells infected with the AIDS virus in vitro. The Company's latest data offers an explanation for this apparent specificity of PN355.

"Basically, PN355 is so specific for HIV-1 infected cells because of its ability to inhibit a novel kinase enzyme," reported Babish. "This enzyme is not present in significant amounts in normal cells, but its concentration and activity increase dramatically in AIDS and in certain cancers."

"These findings will greatly facilitate further studies concerning additional disease application of PN355," Babish noted.

Paracelsian is a biotechnology company engaged in the discovery of pharmaceuticals from herbal sources and the development and marketing of assays for improved cancer diagnosis. The Company's technologies are based on a biochemical process known as signal transduction -- a form of information processing within the cell. The Company has in effect several licensing deals, including an agreement with Dow Chemical for Paracelsian's Ah-Immunoassay(TM) signed in January 1995.

CONTACT: Peter Steinerman or Angela Garber of Wang Associates, 212-685-1900/ 15:10 EST

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