Angiochem announces plans for advancing product candidates from proprietary platform

-- Pipeline Highlights Include Neurotensin for Pain, Leptin for Obesity and a GDNF Compound for Parkinson’s Disease –

-- Two Candidates to be Selected in 2011 for Clinical Advancement–

Montreal, Canada, December 8, 2010 –Angiochem, Inc. today announced its plans for advancing the development of product candidates from its pipeline, using the company’s proprietary platform for Engineered Peptide Compounds (EPiC) for drugs that cross the blood-brain barrier through LRP-1 targeting.  The product candidates cover a range of therapeutic areas, including pain, obesity and Parkinson’s disease, using Angiochem’s technology to uniquely enable drugs to penetrate the CNS, including biologics (peptides and proteins) and small molecules.  In addition, Angiochem will continue to actively pursue additional research and development collaborations.

"We are excited to move forward with our diverse product portfolio, based on the validation of our receptor-targeting peptide technology and the strengthened resources provided by the $35 million up-front payment, comprised of $7.5 million in cash and $27.5 million of shares of Geron common stock to be issued in January 2011, related to the license and collaboration agreements with Geron announced today,” commented Jean-Paul Castaigne, MD, President and CEO of Angiochem. “We have validated our platform in humans with our lead small molecule product candidate, ANG1005, which has been out-licensed on an exclusive basis.  We are now accelerating drug candidates in our pipeline based on our R&D for peptide and protein therapeutics to cross the blood-brain barrier to treat a wide range of CNS diseases and brain related disorders, such as neurodegenerative diseases, obesity, pain, and others. Based on our next phase of progress with our pipeline, our goal is to select two candidates in 2011 for clinical advancement.”

Pipeline Highlights:

ANG2002 for Analgesia//Angiochem is continuing with IND-enabling studies with ANG2002, a new chemical entity that is a neurotensin based derivative with the potential to be a first-in-class analgesic. ANG2002 is capable of crossing the blood-brain barrier after systemic administration.  Angiochem’s further development of ANG2002 is based on positive results to date testing ANG2002 in five different pain models, as well as
encouraging preclinical efficacy demonstrating superiority to morphine and gabapentin.

ANG2004 for Obesity // Angiochem is developing ANG2004, a leptin-based drug compound designed to by-pass the impaired leptin receptor at the blood-brain barrier using the LRP-1 mediated transport of the EPiC technology.  To date, Angiochem has successfully  conducted preclinical studies with ANG2004 demonstrating in vivo activity of weight loss in relevant animal models.

ANG2008 for Parkinson’s Disease // Angiochem has developed ANG2008 using EPiC technology to create a GDNF (glial cell-derived neurotrophic factor) compound for treatment of Parkinson's disease. The company is further developing ANG2008 in various preclinical studies.

Other Pipeline Programs // Angiochem is furthering its R&D efforts with additional novel EPiC compounds in development, building on the strong base of existing clinical validation of small molecule EPiC compounds as well as other opportunities for EPiC compounds designed with peptides and proteins. .

About Angiochem // Angiochem is a clinical-stage biotechnology company discovering and developing new breakthrough drugs that are leveraging the LRP-1 mediated pathway  to cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB) to treat brain diseases. These new Engineered Peptide Compounds (EPiC) have the potential to address significant medical needs, many of which cannot be effectively addressed due to the fundamental physiological challenge the blood-brain barrier presents for therapeutic intervention. Angiochem is developing a deep and broad product pipeline, including small and large molecules and biologics, for the potential treatment of a wide range of CNS diseases, including neurodegenerative and metabolic diseases, pain, brain cancer and many others. Founded in 2006, Angiochem maintains headquarters in Montreal, Canada. For additional information about the Company, please visit http://www.angiochem.com.