Independent Data Safety Monitoring Board Recommends Continuation Of Sangart's Pivotal Phase III Trials Of Hemospan(R) Following Second Interim Review

Main Category: Blood / Hematology
Also Included In: Clinical Trials / Drug Trials;  Pharma Industry / Biotech Industry
Article Date: 12 Mar 2008 - 0:00 PDT

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Sangart, Inc., a privately held biopharmaceutical company focused on the research, development and commercialization of oxygen transport agents, announced that an independent data safety monitoring board (DSMB) has recommended the continuation of both Phase III clinical trials of Sangart's lead blood substitute product, Hemospan(R), under current protocols.

This recommendation is based on the DSMB's review of the blinded data from the first two-thirds of the 830 patients to be enrolled in two ongoing Phase III pivotal studies in Europe. The DSMB conducted a prior review in December 2007 that concluded positively.

"We are pleased to have a second positive DSMB recommendation as we continue to advance these important Phase III studies," commented Dr. Robert Winslow, Chairman, President and CEO of Sangart.

Hemospan is a hemoglobin-based oxygen transport agent designed to serve as an oxygen therapeutic and as an alternative to blood transfusions. A key property of Hemospan is its high oxygen affinity which results in targeted oxygen delivery to tissues at risk of oxygen deprivation.

About Sangart

Sangart is a privately held biopharmaceutical company focused on the research, development and commercialization of medical products designed for use as oxygen transport agents.

Dr. Robert Winslow, a world-renowned authority in the field of oxygen transport, founded Sangart in 1998. In the two decades prior to founding Sangart, Dr. Winslow and his colleagues studied and defined mechanisms of oxygen transport by cell-free hemoglobin solutions, funded by competitive grants from the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Defense. The counterintuitive discoveries by Dr. Winslow's group on the effective action of oxygen transport agents have been patented and published in numerous scientific articles. From this experience, Sangart's lead product, Hemospan, was designed using unique polyethylene glycol conjugation to create a hemoglobin-based product that is intended to serve as an oxygen therapeutic and as an alternative to donated blood.

The key breakthroughs in the development of Hemospan were the understanding of the mechanisms of vasoconstriction caused by cell-free hemoglobin and the development of simplified production methods that are designed to make the final product commercially viable.

Sangart is headquartered in San Diego, California. To learn more about Sangart, please visit the company's website at http://www.sangart.com.

Sangart, Inc.
http://www.sangart.com