Frost & Sullivan Recognizes Neotropix's Approach to the Treatment of Small Cell Lung Cancer and Neuroendocrine Cancers

Innovative Therapy Ensures Greater Patient Compliance, Improves Quality of Life

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Jan. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Based on its recent analysis of the biopharmaceuticals market, Frost & Sullivan recognizes Neotropix, Inc. with the 2009 U.S. Frost & Sullivan Award for Product Innovation of the Year. This award acknowledges the company's introduction of the innovative virotherapy NTX-010 (Seneca Valley Virus), an oncolytic picorna virus for treating small cell lung cancer (SCLC) and other neuroendocrine cancers. This state-of-the-art product aids cancer treatment by using a naturally occurring, replication-competent, single-stranded ribonucleic acid (RNA) virus.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20081117/FSLOGO)

NTX-010's benefits include a convenient once-only dosing and an attractive side effect profile. It has the potential to address unmet needs in the treatment of adults with small cell cancer and carcinoid cancer. It can also potentially treat children with neuroblastoma, Wilms' tumor, Retinoblastoma, Ewing's sarcoma, Rhabdoid tumor, alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma, and glioblastoma.

This virus, through a receptor-mediated process, selectively targets neuroendocrine tumor cells that express at least one of the following three biomarkers: synaptophysin, CD56, or chromogranin A. "NTX-010 is extremely selective and potent for killing tumor cells. In addition, no normal human cell has been shown to be infectable. Furthermore, NTX-010 is non-pathogenic in multiple animals including mice, swine, primates, and humans," says Frost & Sullivan Research Analyst Katheryn Symank.

People with SCLC have very low survival rates and current treatments are limited to surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation. Patients also suffer from the significant toxic effects from these therapies. The only Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved first-line chemotherapy regimen for SCLC is a combination of cisplatin and etoposide. However, an estimated 20 to 25 percent of patients do not respond to this treatment. In contrast, in animal models, NTX-010 exhibited a high therapeutic index, strong anti-tumor activity, and minimal side effects.

"Preliminary results from Phase I/II open label clinical trials, which included both SCLC and carcinoid cancer patients, found that the majority of patients responded to NTX-010 treatment, with one patient exhibiting a 50 percent reduction in tumor size," observes Symank.

Traditionally, for SCLC, chemotherapy dosing is usually given every day for three days, with the cycle repeated every 21 days. The combination of cisplatin and etoposide is inconveniently administered through an IV infusion.

Comparatively, NTX-010 requires only one systemic dose because it can replicate itself and expand within the tumor by making thousands of copies of itself from one virus particle, each capable of infecting a new tumor cell and repeating the process. The convenience of once-only dosing ensures greater patient compliance, and improves their quality of life.

"Moreover, NTX-010 has not been found to have any drug-related serious side effects or dose limiting toxicities," observes Symank. "The highly selective and targeted nature of the product kills only the cancer cells, leaving the healthy cells undamaged."

Each year, Frost & Sullivan presents this award to the company that has demonstrated excellence in new products and technologies within its industry. The recipient company has shown innovation by launching a broad line of emerging products and technologies.

Frost & Sullivan's Best Practices Awards recognize companies in a variety of regional and global markets for demonstrating outstanding achievement and superior performance in areas such as leadership, technological innovation, customer service, and strategic product development. Industry analysts compare market participants and measure performance through in-depth interviews, analysis, and extensive secondary research in order to identify best practices in the industry.

About Neotropix, Inc.

Neotropix(R) Inc., is focused on the development of anti-cancer products that have a high degree of selectivity for cancer cells resulting in an excellent safety and therapeutic efficacy profile. Neotropix(R) develops and commercializes systemically deliverable oncolytic viruses for the treatment of solid tumors. Capitalizing on its unique sources of naturally occurring viruses that selectively target tumors discovered using the company's proprietary technology platform Viruscreen(TM), the Company has the knowledge and skills to translate these discoveries into commercial products. Neotropix(R) is committed to making a difference in the lives of cancer patients.

Neotropix(R) commenced operations in 2005 in Malvern, Pennsylvania. Neotropix(R) is funded by venture-capital investors including Aurora Funds, Quaker BioVentures and VIMAC Ventures. For more information, please visit http://www.neotropix.com.

About Frost & Sullivan

Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Partnership Company, partners with clients to accelerate their growth. The company's TEAM Research, Growth Consulting and Growth Team Membership(TM) empower clients to create a growth-focused culture that generates, evaluates and implements effective growth strategies. Frost & Sullivan employs over 45 years of experience in partnering with Global 1000 companies, emerging businesses and the investment community from more than 30 offices on six continents. For more information about Frost & Sullivan's Growth Partnership Services, visit http://www.frost.com.

    Contact:

    Jake Wengroff
    Frost & Sullivan
    210.247.3806
    jake.wengroff@frost.com

    Lisa Rivero
    LaVoie Group
    978.745.4200 x106
    lrivero@lavoiegroup.com