Exonhit Launches Mouse Genome Splicearraytm For Use In Human Disease Modeling Studies

Main Category: Genetics
Also Included In: Immune System / Vaccines;  Neurology / Neuroscience
Article Date: 28 Nov 2008 - 4:00 PST

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ExonHit Therapeutics S.A. (Alternext: ALEHT), a drug and diagnostic discovery company, announces today the availability of its new SpliceArray™ for use in studying mouse models of human disease. These SpliceArrayTM products help our clients accelerate and refine their therapeutic target discovery and validation efforts. Using our high resolution expression profiling analysis, we identify novel transcripts coding for new protein variants that may be involved in various genetic disorders such as oncology, central nervous system, or immune system disorders. This mouse SpliceArrayTM products represent the achievement of more two years of work by our R&D team after the launch of the Human genome SpliceArrayTM in 2007 and the rat genome SpliceArrayTM earlier this year.

"ExonHit has added another important species to its target discovery services portfolio. This addition will expand our ability to service scientists who use the mouse as a disease model, as well as our own discovery programs for novel therapeutic targets and biomarkers" said John R. Jaskowiak, Executive Vice President of Molecular Diagnostics and Genomics Services at ExonHit Therapeutics.

"These new Mouse SpliceArrayTM products will further accelerate the understanding of mechanism of action and ultimately boost the discovery and validation of new therapeutics for ExonHit, using the Mouse as a disease model system, especially in the fields of oncology and CNS disease; this unique approach enabling to save months of preclinical development time" stated Loïc Maurel, Chairman of the Executive Board of ExonHit Therapeutics.

About ExonHit Therapeutics

ExonHit Therapeutics is the world's leader in the analysis of alternative RNA splicing, a process which when deregulated plays a key role in the onset of various diseases.

ExonHit has a multi-component commercial strategy to capture the maximum value from its Leadership in alternative splicing. The Company is already generating revenues from a new generation of microarrays, SpliceArrayTM family of products, that enable life science researchers to detect crucial disease-associated information. These products are marketed worldwide in conjunction with Agilent and Affymetrix. In the field of diagnostics, ExonHit has a major collaboration with bioMérieux to develop completely novel predictive blood-based cancer diagnostics, which could play a key role in improving the treatment of breast cancer and other major cancers.

In parallel, ExonHit is developing its own therapeutic pipeline in the field of neurodegenerative diseases and cancer. The Company has advanced drug candidates into clinical trials and is evaluating several promising pre-clinical compounds. ExonHit also has a strategic partnership with Allergan, to discover and develop new therapeutics in the areas of pain, neurological diseases and ophthalmology. This collaboration provides on-going research funding to ExonHit.

Founded in 1997, ExonHit is headquartered in Paris, France and has a U.S. facility in Gaithersburg, Maryland. The Company is listed on Alternext of Euronext Paris (ticker: ALEHT; ISIN: FR0004054427) since November 17, 2005.

This press release includes only summary information and does not purport to be comprehensive. The projections, forecast and estimates of ExonHit Therapeutics which may be contained herein are for illustrative purposes only and are based on management's current views and assumptions. Such projections, forecast and estimates involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, as described at Section 4.2 "Facteurs de risque" (Risk Factors) of the Document de Base available on ExonHit Therapeutics' website (http://www.exonhit.com), that may cause actual results, performance or events to differ materially from those anticipated in the summary information.

In addition, ExonHit Therapeutics, its shareholders, and its affiliates, directors, officers, advisors and employees have not verified the accuracy of, and make no representations or warranties in relation to, statistical data or predictions contained in this press release that were taken or derived from third party sources or industry publications, and such statistical data and predictions are used in this press release for information purposes only. Finally, this press release may be drafted in the French and English languages. In an event of differences between the texts, the French language version shall prevail.

ExonHit Therapeutics