Atairgin Press Release: Monday, February 7, 2000

San Diego, Calif. – February 7, 2000 – Atairgin Technologies, Inc. today announced it plans to begin enrolling approximately 1,600 women in North American clinical trials utilizing its patented LPA technology test to reliably detect ovarian and other reproductive cancers. The primary objective of the clinical trials is to establish the company’s proprietary assay as an aid in definitively determining the presence of an ovarian malignancy in women with a suspicious pelvic mass.

discount hotels in Palma de MallorcaAtairgin’s research shows that elevated blood levels of certain bioactive lipids, or extracellular regulating agents, may be associated with ovarian and other reproductive cancers. The company’s unique platform technology involves a patented assay that identifies an increase in LPA, lysophosphatidic acid, present in the blood of ovarian cancer patients. Researchers believe the presence of this tumor marker is independent of the stage of tumor growth and may, therefore, provide an early detection tool. Lysophospholipids also have been found in the blood of patients suffering from other gynecological conditions, offering the potential for other applications of the technology.

The multi-center studies, scheduled to be completed by the end of the year, will involve patients at seven leading institutions renowned for their oncologic research: The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas; The Cleveland Clinic Foundation in Cleveland, Ohio; Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California; University of California, Davis in Sacramento, California; Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts; Sunnybrook Hospital, University of Toronto in Canada; and, Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois. Depending upon the findings, Atairgin hopes to file for approval of the LPA assay before December.

Innsbruck hôtels"This is the most critical phase in our development to date and we’re very hopeful the results will provide concrete data to accelerate commercialization of what could be a lifesaving diagnostic tool to improve the quality of life for millions of women," said Patrick D. Walsh, Atairgin’s chief executive officer.

Up to 95% of women survive longer than five years if diagnosed and treated when the cancer is localized. More than 70%, however, are not diagnosed until the disease has spread beyond the ovaries; two-thirds of those with confirmed late-stage disease die within five years. Women with a suspicious mass often undergo multiple pelvic exams, transvaginal ultrasounds and other scans, and a common blood test which measures the CA-125 protein. Even with these tools, there is no definitive test to reliably detect ovarian disease.

Ovarian cancer causes more deaths than any other cancer of the reproductive system and is the fifth most common female cancer. In 1999, approximately 25,000 news cases will be diagnosed and 14,500 women will die from the disease.

Atairgin Technologies, founded in 1996, is an emerging healthcare technology company dedicated to improving the quality of care in women’s health. The company’s platform technology is based on bioactive lipids, or extracellular regulating agents, that enable multiple platform applications in cancer, pregnancy management and reproductive health.