Progen Granted Anti-Angiogenesis Antibody Patent

Progen Granted Anti-Angiogenesis Antibody Patent 


BRISBANE, Oct. 28  /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Progen Industries Limited 
announced today that it has recently broadened its intellectual property
position with the receipt of E.U. Patent No. 0669988. The patent entitled
"Angiogenesis Inhibitory Antibodies" broadly covers antibody approaches to the
inhibition of angiogenesis by directly inhibiting endothelial cell growth.

Angiogenesis is a critical step in cancer and is the process by which new blood
vessels are formed to establish and grow tumors.  Inhibiting angiogenesis can
inhibit tumor growth and prolong life for cancer patients. This has recently
been confirmed by Genentech's (NASDAQ:DNA) antibody, Avastin(R) that has
demonstrated a survival benefit in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer
and is the subject of their recent Biologics License Application (BLA) filing
with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its eventual release to the
market.

Progen's new patent grant broadens the company's intellectual property coverage
in one of the most heavily researched areas - angiogenesis and specifically the
area of inhibiting endothelial cell growth.  Endothelial cells form the walls of
blood vessels and their growth or proliferation, is a key step in the process of
providing blood supply to growing tumors.  Progen claim in their patent a novel
antibody-related approach to preventing endothelial cells forming these new
blood vessels to feed tumors thereby inhibiting angiogenesis.

Robert Don PhD, Progen's Vice President for Research and Development commented,
"Interest in therapeutic anti-angiogenic antibodies for the development of drugs
has grown and was recently validated, so our patent covers a space in what is
becoming an important area for drug development. Our lead drug PI-88 emerged
from our related angiogenesis research program and Progen's drug discovery team
continues to work on expanding our drug portfolio.  This most recent patent
grant completes coverage gained by patents issued in the United States
(US5677181 & US5874081) and Australia (AU673865). It will complement our 6
patent families in the antiangiogenesis field with 26 granted patents and 17
patent applications."

Progen's lead small-molecule drug candidate, PI-88 also targets angiogenesis, in
this case via the inhibition of several growth factors necessary for blood
vessel growth, such as VEGF, FGF-1 and FGF-2, along with the enzyme heparanase. 
PI-88 is showing promise in a Phase I solid tumor trial as a single-agent, where
one third of cancer patients treated to date have experienced stable disease
over periods up to 27 months.  All patients in this study have advanced or
terminal stage disease where life expectancy is short and where all other
effective therapy options are either not available or have failed. 

DATASOURCE: Progen Industries



CONTACT:  Sarah Meibusch of Progen Industries Limited, [phone],

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