VioQuest Pharmaceuticals Announces Issuance of New U.S. Patent for Lenocta(TM)

  
    
  
  
    
      VioQuest Pharmaceuticals (OTCBB: VOQP) today announced that the United 
      States Patent and Trademark Office has issued the first patent for the 
      company’s investigational product candidate 
      Lenocta™ (sodium stibogluconate). U.S. Patent 
      No. 7,416,723 entitled “Therapeutic 
      compositions and methods useful in modulating protein tyrosine 
      phosphatases,” encompasses novel 
      compositions including Lenocta for the treatment of cancer and a broad 
      range of other diseases.
    
    
      “Based on Lenocta’s 
      demonstrated anti-tumor activity against melanoma, renal cancer, 
      prostate cancer, leukemia, and other cancers both alone and in 
      combination with other approved immune-activation agents, including IL-2 
      and interferons, we believe this product candidate represents a 
      promising approach to treating cancer,” said 
      Michael D. Becker, president and chief executive officer of VioQuest 
      Pharmaceuticals. “We are also enthusiastic 
      about the new FDA priority review voucher program, which could enable us 
      to accelerate development and commercialization efforts for Lenocta in 
      the treatment of leishmaniasis.”
    
    
      Pentavalent antimonial compounds such as Lenocta are considered as a 
      first-line treatment for leishmaniasis, a protozoan infection usually 
      found in tropic and sub-tropic countries. The pharmacological mechanism 
      of action for pentavalent antimonials in treating leishmaniasis is not 
      fully understood, but research has indicated that the therapeutic effect 
      might be mediated via cellular targets. Researchers at The Cleveland 
      Clinic recently discovered that Lenocta inhibits specific protein 
      tyrosine phosphatases, which are relevant in the treatment of cancer and 
      other diseases.
    
    
      VioQuest Pharmaceuticals licensed rights to sodium stibogluconate from 
      the Cleveland Clinic Foundation and is developing the drug as a protein 
      tyrosine phosphatase inhibitor for a range of potential indications. 
      According to the results of both preclinical and clinical trials:
    
    
      
        Lenocta has marked and broad anti-tumor activity in vivo as a 
        single agent at a dosage that may be clinically achievable and well 
        tolerated;
      
      
        The demonstrated synergy between Lenocta and various cytokine 
        therapies in vivo indicates that combination therapy with 
        Lenocta could significantly improve efficacy of current cytokine 
        therapies in cancer treatment; and
      
      
        Because Lenocta inhibits certain protein tyrosine phosphatases with a 
        distinct mechanism of action, it may be useful as an alternative 
        therapeutic for cancers that are non-responsive or resistant to 
        conventional therapies.
      
    
    
      Lenocta is in a Phase 2a clinical trial as a potential treatment for 
      melanoma, renal cell carcinoma, and other solid tumors. For information 
      about the study, please visit http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ 
      and use the search term “NCT00629200.” 
      The clinical status was recently updated at the 2008 ASCO annual meeting 
      in an oral presentation by Dr. Aung Naing from MD Anderson.
    
    
      VioQuest Pharmaceuticals is planning to utilize historical published 
      data and an observational study of approximately 400 U.S. Army patients 
      to support a New Drug Application (NDA) for Lenocta. The approval of 
      this NDA could position VioQuest Pharmaceuticals to receive a priority 
      review voucher offered through the recently enacted Food and Drug 
      Administration Amendments Act of 2007 (Section 524 to the Federal Food, 
      Drug and Cosmetic Act or FFDCA). Designed to encourage the development 
      of treatments for tropical diseases, a priority review voucher will be 
      awarded to a sponsor upon approval of a tropical disease product 
      application. A tropical disease product application is a new chemical 
      entity human drug application that is itself deemed eligible for 
      priority review under the preexisting priority review criteria and is 
      approved for use in the prevention, detection, or treatment of a 
      tropical disease. A priority review voucher may be redeemed for priority 
      six-month review of one new drug application submitted under Section 
      505(b)(1) of the FFDCA or one biologics license application submitted 
      under Section 351 of the Public Health Services Act that would otherwise 
      be reviewed under FDA’s standard 10-month 
      review clock. The FDA's new priority review voucher program is scheduled 
      to go into effect in September of 2008.
    
    
      About Lenocta
    
    
      Lenocta (sodium stibogluconate) is a selective, small molecule inhibitor 
      of certain protein tyrosine phosphatases (PTPs), such as SHP-1, SHP-2 
      and PTP1B, with demonstrated anti-tumor activity against a wide spectrum 
      of cancers both alone and in combination with other approved immune 
      activation agents, including IL-2 and interferons. PTPs are a family of 
      proteins that regulate signal transduction pathways in cells and have 
      been implicated in a number of diseases including cancer, diabetes, and 
      neurodegeneration.
    
    
      In addition to its potential role as a cancer therapeutic, sodium 
      stibogluconate has been approved in many countries around the world as a 
      first-line treatment of leishmaniasis, an infection typically found in 
      tropic and sub-tropic developing countries. Historical published data 
      and a large observational study conducted by the U.S. Army, including 
      data from approximately 400 patients, will support a New Drug 
      Application for Lenocta with the FDA. Lenocta has been granted Orphan 
      Drug status for leishmaniasis.
    
    
      About VioQuest Pharmaceuticals
    
    
      VioQuest Pharmaceuticals is a New Jersey-based biotechnology company 
      dedicated to becoming a recognized leader in the successful development 
      of novel drug therapies targeting both the molecular basis of cancer and 
      side effects of treatment. VioQuest’s 
      oncology portfolio includes: Xyfid™ (1% 
      uracil topical) for the treatment of dry skin conditions and manage the 
      burning and itching associated with various dermatoses; VQD-002 
      (triciribine phosphate monohydrate), a targeted inhibitor of Akt 
      activation; and Lenocta™ (sodium 
      stibogluconate), an inhibitor of certain protein tyrosine phosphatases 
      such as SHP-1, SHP-2, and PTP1B.
    
    
      Further information about VioQuest can be found at www.vioquestpharm.com.
    
    
      This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve 
      risks and uncertainties that could cause VioQuest's actual results and 
      experiences to differ materially from the anticipated results and 
      expectations expressed in these forward-looking statements. These 
      forward-looking statements concern the timing, progress and results of 
      the clinical development, regulatory processes, potential clinical trial 
      initiations of VioQuest’s product candidates, 
      as well as our ability to complete strategic transactions. These 
      statements are often, but not always, made through the use of words or 
      phrases such as anticipates, expects, plans, believes, intends, and 
      similar words or phrases. These statements are based on current 
      expectations, forecasts and assumptions that are subject to risks and 
      uncertainties, which could cause actual outcomes and results to differ 
      materially from these statements. These statements are subject to 
      various risks and uncertainties and include VioQuest’s 
      immediate need for additional capital to cover its current obligations 
      and future operating expenses and fund its clinical development 
      programs, the possibility that the results of clinical trials will not 
      support VioQuest's claims, the possibility that VioQuest's development 
      efforts relating to its product candidates will not be successful, the 
      inability to obtain regulatory approval of VioQuest's product 
      candidates, VioQuest's reliance on third-party researchers to develop 
      its product candidates, its lack of experience in developing and 
      commercializing pharmaceutical products, and the possibility that its 
      licenses to develop and commercialize its product candidates may be 
      terminated. Additional risks are described in VioQuest's Annual Report 
      on Form 10-KSB for the year ended December 31, 2007. VioQuest assumes no 
      obligation and does not intend to update these forward-looking 
      statements, except as required by law.