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Biotech / Medical : NEXL -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: bob jaremsek who wrote (1312)	3/27/1998 9:18:00 AM
From: bob jaremsek	Respond to of 1704

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 27, 1998--Innovir Laboratories, Inc. (Nasdaq SmallCap: INVR), a subsidiary of VIMRX Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:VMRX), announced today that it has developed a novel technology termed FRS (Functional Ribozyme Selection) which will significantly enhance the company's lead oligozyme technology development programs. FRS rapidly and more accurately identifies the optimal cleavage or cutting site for a ribozyme or External Guide Sequence (EGS) oligonucleotide (oligozymes) in any messenger RNA molecule. Importantly, FRS is used inside intact, living bacterial cells, insuring that the sites identified are truly accessible to the oligozymes under normal physiological conditions. A patent application covering this technology has been filed. "The development of the FRS technology is particularly significant because it solves a long-standing problem that has impeded development of oligonucleotide-based compounds as therapeutics or for drug discovery target validation," said Thomas R. Sharpe, Ph. D., Innovir president and CEO. "The FRS technology rapidly identifies the most effective cutting site for an oligozyme in a mRNA, and, at the same time, provides a quantitative measure of the activity of the EGS targeting that site. This process, which was typically done in vitro, was costly, time-consuming, error prone and often identified compounds which lacked the desired activity in cell-based systems. The addition of FRS to our research programs will allow us to better meet the needs of drug discovery programs for novel antibacterial targets and compounds." Sidney Altman, Ph.D., Sterling Professor of Biology at Yale University, winner of the Nobel Prize in 1989 for his discovery that the catalytic component of the cellular enzyme RNaseP is a ribozyme, and a member of Innovir's Science Advisory Board adds, "FRS technology represents a significant advance in the efficient design and optimization of oligozymes. It should have real utility in improving the design and lowering the cost of using oligozymes for both target validation and therapeutic purposes." Oligozymes have the potential to identify how different genes function and to identify and validate molecular targets for new drug therapies. Innovir is actively seeking biotechnology and pharmaceutical partners to further evaluate the impact of oligozymes on different biological systems. Innovir Laboratories Inc. Innovir Laboratories, Inc. is a biotechnology company that has been developing technologies based on catalytically interactive oligomers (oligozymes) for pharmaceutical and genomic research and also for the treatment and prevention of diseases. The Company's technologies utilize either External Guide Sequences (EGS) oligozymes - which inactivate targeted messenger RNA (mRNA) through activity of the cellular enzyme RNase P - or RILON(TM) oligozymes, which inactivate targeted mRNA directly. To complement its therapeutic and drug target validation programs, Innovir has developed a unique drug delivery tool called InnoPhor(TM) enhances the delivery of several classes of oligonucleotide-based compounds into cells. The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a "safe harbor" for certain forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained in this release are subject to certain risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from current expectations. Among the factors which could affect the Company's actual results and could cause results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements contained herein are the success of the Company's clinical trials, delays in receiving FDA or other regulatory approvals and the development of competing therapies and/or technologies by other companies. NOTE TO INVESTORS AND EDITORS: Innovir's press releases are available on the Internet through VIMRX Pharmaceutical Inc.'s web site at www.vimrx.com and through BusinessWire's web site, under the VIMRX heading, at businesswire.com. The releases also are available at no charge through BusinessWire's fax-on-demand service at 800-411-8792. CONTACT: Media Contact: Laura A. Mastrangelo VIMRX Pharmaceuticals (302) 998-1734 or Investor Contact: Dian Griesel, Ph.D. The Investor Relations Group (212) 664-8489 _____________________________________________ ............... Bob