10/17 Sparta Pharmaceuticals Inc. Announces Patent Approval from the United
States Patent and Trademark Office
HORSHAM, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 17, 1997--Sparta Pharmaceuticals Inc.
(NASDAQ: SPTA, SPTAU, SPTAW, SPTAZ AND SPTAL) announced that the United States
Patent and Trademark Office has granted United States Patent No. 5,674,708
submitted by Dr. Harvey Rubin and colleagues of The University of Pennsylvania
(Penn).
The patent is entitled, "a-1-Antichymotrypsin Analogues Having Elastase
Inhibitory Activity." This is the seventh United States patent to be granted
through Sparta's collaboration with Penn.
Through a Sparta-funded grant, Rubin, who is a scientific advisor to the
company, has created a new class of recombinant modified human proteins that
are specific serine protease inhibitors. The lead compound of this series, LEX
032, functions to inhibit acute, life-threatening inflammation.
Sparta believes this product may have utility in acute pulmonary
inflammation and reperfusion injury such as thrombo-embolic stroke. The
company was recently awarded a Phase II SBIR grant to support more detailed investigations with this compound in stroke.
According to Dr. Jerry B. Hook, Sparta's president and chief executive
officer, "The issuance of this patent further strengthens our portfolio of
compounds in this promising area of therapeutics."
The company believes this recombinant serine protease inhibitor program has
the potential to be successful in treating serious conditions where
uncontrolled inflammatory responses may have fatal consequences including
cardiovascular disorders, stroke, lung inflammation and pancreatitis.
The company has an exclusive license to over sixty compounds covered in the
seven U.S. patents issued to Penn; international patents are pending.
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the
meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995.
Such statements are made based on management's current expectations and
beliefs, and actual results may vary from those currently anticipated based
upon a number of factors, including uncertainties inherent in the drug
development process, including clinical trials.
The company undertakes no obligation to release publicly any revisions which may be made to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof.
Sparta is a development stage pharmaceutical company engaged in the business
of acquiring rights to, and developing for commercialization, technologies and
drugs for the treatment of a number of life threatening diseases including
cancer, cardiovascular disorders and inflammation.
The company has focused on acquiring compounds that have been previously
tested in humans and animals and technologies that may improve the delivery or
targeting of previously tested, and in some cases marketed, anticancer agents.
Sparta's foundation in cancer chemotherapy has been augmented by the
addition of new technology in the rapidly expanding field of serine protease
inhibitors. Serine protease inhibitors have wide applications in diverse
fields such as inflammation, reperfusion injury and stroke.
CONTACT: Sparta Pharmaceuticals Inc.
Jerry B. Hook, Ph.D., President/CEO, 215/442-1700, ext.
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