Neutralizing Monoclonal Antibodies Against LPA

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Lpath Creates First Neutralizing Monoclonal Antibodies Against LPA,

An Important Cancer Target

Main Category: Cancer / Oncology News

Article Date: 18 Jul 2006 - 0:00am (PDT)

Lpath, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: LPTN), the first to generate

therapeutic monoclonal antibodies against bioactive lipids, has

achieved another medical breakthrough: It is now the first to

generate functional antibodies against lysophosphatidic acid ( " LPA " ),

a key bioactive lipid and a potent cancer promoter.

The cancer-research community has long recognized LPA as a

significant contributor to cancer through its promotion of cancer-

cell growth and metastasis in a broad range of tumor types. In

response, many academics, biotechs, and pharmaceutical companies have

all tried-without success-to produce drugs, including antibodies,

that target LPA and neutralize its potent tumorigenic effects.

Using its proprietary ImmuneY2 technology, Lpath has not only

succeeded in generating monoclonal antibodies against LPA, it has

also demonstrated, using standard assays, that these antibodies

mitigate LPA's tumorigenic effects on cancer cells.

" We continue to be a company of firsts, " remarked Pancoast,

Lpath's president and CEO. " This breakthrough reveals again the power

of our proprietary technology and blazes new ground in this exciting

and promising area of cancer research. "

Dr. Garland, Lpath's vice president of development and former

senior director for Hoffman-La Roche commented, " For many years, the

scientific community has recognized the significant therapeutic and

diagnostic potential of an anti-LPA antibody. However, many companies

failed in their efforts to create an antibody against LPA, despite

considerable effort. Lpath's success with LPA validates the ability

of its technology and its research team to produce antibodies for

these therapeutically important, yet highly challenging, targets. "

Lpath used this same ImmuneY2 technology to produce antibodies

against sphingosine-1-phosphate ( " S1P " ), another validated cancer

target. The best performing of these antibodies, called Sphingomab

, is now Lpath's lead drug candidate and has shown preclinical

efficacy against six different mouse models of human cancer. The

cancer-related findings were recently published in the leading

scientific journal, Cancer Cell.

Due to their exquisite specificity and pharmacology, antibodies have

a strong record of success as drugs, especially in the oncology

arena, as demonstrated by Erbitux® (ImClone) and by Avastin® and

Herceptin® (Genentech), among others.

" Now that we've established that ImmuneY2 works for the LPA project, "

notes Pancoast, " we are at a turning point where we can follow the

more predictable and well-defined path of selecting the best-

performing LPA antibodies to advance into development. "

Dr. Gordon Mills, the chair of the Department of Molecular

Therapeutics of the M.D. Cancer Center and one of the

world's foremost ovarian cancer specialists, is also the chair of

Lpath's Scientific Advisory Board. " We at M.D. are excited

by the opportunity to evaluate the anti-LPA antibodies in preclinical

models of human cancer and look forward to performing the 'first-in-

man' studies, " said Mills. " Given that we have spent the last two

decades demonstrating how important LPA is in cancer, this is an

incredibly exciting innovation. "

Lpath has expanded its extensive patent portfolio to include methods

and compositions of matter relating to antibodies generated from the

ImmuneY2 process, including anti-LPA antibodies.

Sabbadini, Lpath's founder and chief scientific officer, has

been the driving force behind the company's novel technology. " Given

that nearly all commercialized drugs target proteins, " Sabbadini

notes, " our approach of targeting bioactive lipids is revolutionary,

and it continues to reinforce Lpath as the category leader in

therapeutics that target important bioactive lipids. "

About Lpath

Lpath, headquartered in San Diego, is a theranostics company focused

on bioactive signaling lipids as targets for treating and diagnosing

important human diseases, including cancer, heart failure, and age-

related macular degeneration. Lpath's lead product candidate,

Sphingomab, has demonstrated compelling results against seven

different forms of human solid-tumor as well as lymphoma and myeloma

cancers in pre-clinical animal studies. Like Avastin® (Genentech's

blockbuster cancer drug), Sphingomab is anti-angiogenic, but

Sphingomab has other mechanisms of action that may prove advantageous

in the clinical setting. As such, although Genentech pioneered the

anti-angiogenesis approach to treating cancer, Lpath believes

Sphingomab may prove to be the next generation of anti-angiogenesis-

based therapeutics.

Lpath's unique ability to generate antibodies against bioactive

lipids is based on its ImmuneY2 technology. The Company is currently

applying the ImmuneY2 process to other important lipid-signaling

agents that are validated targets for disease treatment, thereby

creating a potential pipeline of antibody-based drug candidates.