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Biotech / Medical : Alfacell (ACEL) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Greg Kevorkian who wrote (1352)	5/20/1998 9:09:00 AM
From: Tom DuBois	Respond to of 1533

Is there any valid reason that ACEL could not release an article such as this?? It is certainly not hype and they are clearly not as far along as we are. I still don't understand our reluctance to publish. --First Indication Targeted Is Pancreatic Cancer-- SAN RAMON, CA (September 4, 1997) - SuperGen, Inc. (Nasdaq: SUPG & SUPGW), an emerging pharmaceutical company, today announced it has acquired exclusive worldwide rights to a patented anti-cancer compound from the Stehlin Foundation for Cancer Research (Houston, TX) in exchange for an up-front payment of SuperGen common stock valued at $2.5 million, ongoing collaborative development payments, additional milestone equity payments and royalties on eventual product sales. The drug (a topoisomerase I inhibitor which has been designated "RFS 2000" by the company) is patented and is a semi-synthetic derivative of a naturally occurring plant alkaloid with cancer-killing properties. It is extracted from the bark and leaves of the camptotheca acuminata tree, which is native to China. RFS 2000 currently is in Phase II human trials for pancreatic cancer, for which Orphan Drug Status already has been obtained from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. As compared to rates observed with the standard treatment, in clinical trials conducted to date RFS 2000 has shown marked improvement in survival rate and quality of life, even in late-stage patients. At therapeutic dosages, adverse effects in these patients appear to be minimal. While the company initially will focus on accelerating clinical development for pancreatic cancer, the agreement grants SuperGen worldwide rights to RFS 2000 for all indications. Like Taxolƒ , in various animal tumor models, RFS 2000 has anti-tumor effects in a number of solid tumors, including breast, lung, ovarian, melanoma and colorectal. However, unlike Taxolƒ , RFS 2000 can be given orally and the company believes has a much more favorable safety profile. It is estimated that there were more than 100,000 new cases of pancreatic cancer in the world in 1996. Because pancreatic cancer cannot be diagnosed until the late stages of the disease, it is regarded as one of the most difficult cancers to treat, and it is the fourth leading cause of all cancer deaths. Fewer than 20% of all patients diagnosed with pancreatic cancer survive for more than one year. "We believe RFS 2000 is a breakthrough compound for pancreatic and many other cancer patients," said Dr. Joseph Rubinfeld, SuperGen's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "We believe that for many companies, RFS 2000 could by itself be the platform for a successful oncology business. SuperGen is committed to establishing the leadership position in oncology with marketed products like Nipentƒ , our medium-term ExtraO formulations of existing anti-cancer drugs, and RFS 2000. Through collaborations with cutting-edge research institutions like the Stehlin Foundation we will continue to build and maintain that leadership." "SuperGen is the perfect partner to move RFS 2000 through clinical development," said Dr. John S. Stehlin, Jr., Founder of the Stehlin Foundation. "SuperGen combines the level of senior management experience of a large pharmaceutical company with the drive and sense of urgency of an entrepreneurial biotechnology company." The Stehlin Foundation for Cancer Research at St. Joseph Hospital in Houston, Texas was founded in 1969, and since that time has had as its primary focus the discovery and development of new and improved anti-cancer drugs. Its research laboratory has the largest number of human tumors in storage in the world and has in the past supplied approximately 75% of the human tumors used by the National Cancer Institute in their testing with nude mice. The Stehlin Foundation pioneered the use of nude mice in cancer research, establishing a correlation between an anti-cancer drug's effectiveness on a human tumor implanted in a mouse and the drug's effectiveness in patients. Based in San Ramon, California, SuperGen is an emerging pharmaceutical company dedicated to the development and commercialization of products intended to treat life-threatening diseases, particularly cancer and blood cell disorders, as well as other serious conditions such as obesity and diabetes. SuperGen is developing an anti-cancer portfolio of proprietary and enhanced Extra? products, and currently is marketing five drugs for the treatment of cancer patients. The company also currently is sponsoring human clinical trials for drugs targeting cancer, anemias, obesity and diabetes.