Avalon Pharmaceuticals Announces the Initiation of Drug Discovery Program for the MYC Oncoprotein - One of the Most Important an

GERMANTOWN, Md., Feb. 20  /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Avalon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq and NYSE ArcaEx: AVRX), today announced the initiation of a drug discovery program targeting the MYC oncoprotein, one of the most important and previously intractable cancer targets.  MYC is one of the most frequently deregulated proteins in human cancer, and is associated with many types of aggressive tumors carrying a poor prognosis.

"The MYC pathway is recognized as a critical but elusive pathway for cancer therapeutics," stated Carmen Allegra, M.D., a founding member of Avalon's Clinical Advisory Board.  "MYC has been known for years to be central to cancer cell proliferation and survival, but it has not been amenable to conventional approaches to drug discovery.  A drug targeting MYC action would be potentially very useful in the treatment of a variety of human cancers."

"Avalon Pharmaceuticals is uniquely suited to discover drugs for these otherwise intractable cancer pathways," stated Kenneth Carter, Ph.D., President and CEO of Avalon Pharmaceuticals, Inc.  "Our AvalonRx(R) technology identifies potential therapeutics based upon their ability to modulate pathways or targets within living cells.  As an example, we use RNAi technologies to suppress the key nodes in these 'undruggable' pathways and screen for small molecules that elicit a similar response.  This approach may lead to the development of first-in-class therapeutics."

Avalon's pipeline now includes: AVN944, a potential best-in-class IMPDH inhibitor now in Phase I clinical trials for hematological malignancies; beta-catenin and aurora pathways inhibitor programs which are in late stage lead candidate optimization; a discovery program on modulators of survivin function and now the new discovery program surrounding MYC.  Avalon's depth and breadth of pipeline affords the company the option to selectively develop and/or partner these programs.

About Avalon Pharmaceuticals

Avalon Pharmaceuticals is a biopharmaceutical company using its proprietary technology, AvalonRx(R), to discover and develop cancer therapeutics.  Avalon has a lead product in Phase I clinical development (AVN944 - IMPDH inhibitor), preclinical programs to discovery inhibitors for the beta-catenin and aurora pathways and value generating partnerships with MedImmune, Medarex, and Novartis. Avalon Pharmaceuticals was established in 1999 and is headquartered in Germantown, Md.

About AvalonRx(R)

AvalonRx(R) is a comprehensive, innovative and proprietary suite of technologies based upon large-scale gene expression analysis. This platform facilitates drug discovery by expanding the range of therapeutic targets for drug intervention, including targets and target pathways frequently considered intractable using conventional HTS approaches, allows more informed decisions about which compounds to advance towards clinical trials, and facilitates drug development through identification of biomarkers of efficacy that can stratify patients or provide early indicators of response.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on management's current expectations and are subject to risks, uncertainty and changes in circumstances, which may cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from anticipated results, performance or achievements. All statements contained herein that are not clearly historical in nature are forward looking. Economic, business, competitive and/or regulatory factors affecting Avalon's business are examples of factors, among others, that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are also expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements included in Avalon's Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including its quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and its annual report on Form 10-K. Avalon is under no obligation to (and expressly disclaims any such obligation to) update or alter its forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

  Contacts:
  Avalon Pharmaceuticals, Inc.        Noonan Russo
  Gary Lessing                        Wendy Lau (Media)
  Executive Vice President & CFO      Tel: [phone]
  Tel: [phone]
  Fax: [phone]                 The Trout Group LLC
  Email:             Chad Rubin (Investors)
                                      Tel: [phone] ext. 47


DATASOURCE: Avalon Pharmaceuticals, Inc.



CONTACT:  Gary Lessing, Executive Vice President & CFO of Avalon

Pharmaceuticals, Inc., [phone], Fax: [phone],

; or Media: Wendy Lau of Noonan Russo, [phone]; or

Investors: Chad Rubin of The Trout Group LLC, [phone] ext. 47

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