Abraxis BioScience Acquires from the Buck Institute Exclusive Worldwide Intellectual Property Rights for Technologies Designed t

  
    
  
  
    
      Abraxis BioScience, Inc. (NASDAQ:ABBI), an integrated, global 
      biopharmaceutical company, today announced an agreement with the Buck 
      Institute for Age Research that provides Abraxis with the exclusive 
      worldwide intellectual property rights for technologies designed to 
      generate novel therapeutics and identify new drug discovery targets. 
      Financial terms were not disclosed.
    
    
      Included in the licensed technologies are a novel immunotherapeutic/ 
      anti-cancer compound (T9) and highly sensitive cell-based assay systems 
      for the discovery of additional immune-modulating drugs. T9 is a highly 
      potent bi-functional molecule with the ability to kill cancer cells and 
      to activate the immune response to recognize cancer cells in a manner 
      analogous to childhood vaccination.
    
    
      �These proprietary cell-based assay systems 
      are a natural fit for our proprietary nab� 
      (nanoparticle albumin bound) technology platform and our proprietary 
      natural product and synthetic drug discovery efforts,� 
      said Patrick Soon-Shiong, M.D., chairman and chief executive officer of 
      Abraxis. �In this new era of personalized 
      medicine, we believe this program will generate a novel pipeline of 
      drugs for Abraxis that provide the promise of cancer treatments with 
      greater efficacy and fewer side effects.�
    
    
      This licensing agreement also includes a proprietary discovery platform 
      designed to discover new chemical entities that remediate the signaling 
      activities of the tumor suppressor p53 in p53-dysfunctional cancer 
      cells. Loss of p53 activity is associated with one-half of all human 
      tumors, often rendering these cancer cells resistant to conventional 
      therapies. The licensed technologies have made the discovery of 
      reactivators of appropriate p53 signaling behavior possible. Inherent in 
      the design of this proprietary technology is a strategy to develop 
      therapeutics that selectively stimulate programmed cell death in 
      p53-dysfunctional cancer cells and that would leave healthy cells 
      expressing normal p53 unaffected. As part of this agreement, Abraxis 
      will have in-licensed all leading drug candidates discovered by Buck 
      using these technologies, including the nab candidate compound G6.
    
    
      �This agreement is in line with the national 
      trend toward facilitating the translation of basic research for clinical 
      benefit,� said Dale E. Bredesen, M.D., chief 
      executive officer and director of Buck Institute for Age Research. �Abraxis 
      has an outstanding track record of recognizing and developing such basic 
      research. I can�t think of a better group, or 
      company, to develop these discoveries as potentially new therapeutics.�
    
    
      �As inventors of these technologies, Dr. 
      Kayvan Niazi and I are extremely excited to be able to further develop 
      and maximize the potential of these technologies to the point where 
      tangible applications to medicine are achieved as rapidly as possible,� 
      said Shahrooz Rabizadeh, Ph.D., director of Molecular Drug Discovery, 
      Abraxis.
    
    
      This agreement with the Buck Institute is part of an ongoing execution 
      of the Abraxis strategy to work closely with innovative, cutting edge 
      scientists to discover new chemical entities and to maximize the 
      opportunity to utilize its nab technology and the gp60 receptor 
      -mediated cell signal transduction pathway to drive active agents from 
      the bloodstream across the endothelial cell barrier to the underlying 
      interstitium and intracellular space. Over the past 12 months, Abraxis 
      has completed strategic alliances or licensing arrangements with the 
      California NanoSystems Institute at UCLA, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, 
      University of British Columbia, University of Maryland, John Wayne 
      Cancer Institute, University of Southern California and Biocon Limited.
    
    
      About the Buck Institute for Age Research
    
    
      The Buck Institute for Age Research, located in Novato, CA, is an 
      independent non-profit organization dedicated to extending the 
      healthspan, the healthy years of each individual�s 
      life. The National Institute on Aging designated the Buck a Nathan 
      Shock Center of Excellence in the Biology of Aging, one of just five 
      centers in the country. Buck Institute scientists work in an innovative, 
      collaborative setting to understand the mechanisms of aging and to 
      discover new ways of detecting, preventing and treating age-related 
      diseases such as Alzheimer�s and Parkinson�s 
      disease, cancer, stroke, and arthritis. Interdisciplinary research at 
      the Institute is supported by genomics, proteomics and bioinformatics 
      technology. For more information: www.buckinstitute.org.
    
    
      About Abraxis BioScience, Inc.
    
    
      Abraxis BioScience, Inc. is an integrated global biopharmaceutical 
      company dedicated to meeting the needs of critically ill patients. The 
      company develops, manufactures and markets one of the broadest 
      portfolios of injectable products and leverages revolutionary technology 
      such as its nab� platform to discover 
      and deliver breakthrough therapeutics that transform the treatment of 
      cancer and other life-threatening diseases. The first FDA approved 
      product to use this nab platform, ABRAXANE�, 
      was launched in 2005 for the treatment of metastatic breast cancer. 
      Abraxis trades on the Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol ABBI. For 
      more information about the company and its products, please visit www.abraxisbio.com.
    
    
      FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENT
    
    
      The statements contained in this press release that are not purely 
      historical are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 
      21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Forward-looking 
      statements in this press release include statements regarding our 
      expectations, beliefs, hopes, goals, intentions, initiatives or 
      strategies, including statements regarding the development of the 
      licensed intellectual property rights. Because these forward-looking 
      statements involve risks and uncertainties, there are important factors 
      that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the 
      forward-looking statements. The development of the licensed intellectual 
      property portfolio could be affected by a number of factors, including 
      unexpected safety, efficacy or manufacturing issues, additional time 
      requirements for data analyses and decision making, the impact of 
      pharmaceutical industry regulation, the impact of competitive products 
      and pricing and the impact of patents and other proprietary rights held 
      by competitors and other third parties. Additional relevant information 
      concerning risks can be found in Abraxis BioScience's Form 10-K for the 
      year ended December 31, 2006 and other documents it has filed with the 
      Securities and Exchange Commission.
    
    
      The information contained in this press release is as of the date of 
      this release. Abraxis assumes no obligations to update any 
      forward-looking statements contained in this press release as the result 
      of new information or future events or developments.