October 16, 2007

Alte Biosciences Announces License Deal with Duke University

Alte Biosciences Inc., a drug development company located in Cary, NC, announces that it has secured exclusive rights to intellectual property developed at the Duke University Medical Center, Durham NC, for novel therapeutics targeting late-onset depression and related disorders.

The licensed technology is a patent based on findings by Dr. Ranga Krishnan, M.D., M.B.B.S., Ch.B. on the relationship between cerebrovascular disease and the onset of depression in elderly individuals, a disease called vascular depression. Dr. Krishnan is Professor and Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Duke University Medical Center, and a leading clinician in treating refractory depression and anxiety disorders.

According to Thomas Colatsky, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer for Alte Biosciences, the immediate focus will be conducting the regulatory studies needed to advance the lead candidate, ARX-111, into a clinical proof of concept study within the next 12 months. “The agreement with Duke University enables us to develop novel therapeutics that target an important underlying cause of depression in older patients: cerebral ischemia.”

Richard Soltero, PhD, Alte’s Chief Executive Officer, said, “ARX-111 is the first drug candidate to be developed by Alte Biosciences. Alte will play a growing role in the development of novel therapeutics, both through in-licensing of promising opportunities, as well as through development partnerships with venture funds interested in obtaining rapid clinical proof of concept.”

Vascular depression affects a significant proportion of patients who are first diagnosed as depressive after the age of 60 years. The condition is related to ischemia occurring in the subcortical regions of the brain and is typically associated with poor outcomes to conventional antidepressant therapy. Late onset depression affects 6 million people in the US.

About Alte Biosciences: Alte Biosciences is a early stage drug development company located in Cary, NC, focused on advancing novel therapeutic candidates supported by sound translational medicine methodology, through early pre-clinical and clinical development. The company is an affiliate of PharmaDirections Inc, a leading drug development management company comprising over 70 employee and associate scientific experts in drug development, located in North Carolina’s Research Triangle Park region.