Cytopia Scientific Presentation on JAK2 Inhibitor Program at American Chemical Society Conference

MELBOURNE, Australia, March 23 /PRNewswire/ -- Cytopia Limited (ASX: CYT) today announced that it will present data on its JAK2 program at the American Chemical Society Spring meeting, currently underway in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.

Dr Tracy Nero, Senior Scientist at Cytopia, will be presenting the poster in the Division of Medicinal Chemistry's general poster session on Wednesday, March 25, 2009 from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM (US ET), Salt Palace Convention Center, Hall 1.

The poster, entitled Small molecule inhibitors of Janus kinases describes preclinical data for a series of JAK2 inhibitors that lead to the identification of CYT387, the company's lead JAK2 drug candidate for the treatment of myeloprofilerative disorders (MPDs). Data for CYT387 in a panel of in vitro assays will be shown, as will comparative data with other described JAK inhibitors.

A separate poster on Cytopia's vascular disrupting agent (VDA), CYT997, has also been presented at the same conference.

About JAK2

The discovery of a specific single activating mutation in the JAK2 enzyme in MPDs in 2005 has focused attention on developing a therapy for these diseases through selective inhibition of JAK2. To successfully address these chronic diseases with a JAK2 inhibitor, the specificity and resultant tolerability profile is a key element of the product profile required for a "best in class" inhibitor.

Cytopia is a world leader in JAK2 kinase chemistry and holds a broad range of JAK2 related patents. The main focus of the JAK2 program is developing orally available JAK2 inhibitors to treat MPDs including myelofibrosis, polycythemia vera and essential thrombocythemia.

CYT387 is a specific JAK2 inhibitor with excellent potential for safe and efficacious chronic human dosing. It has been derived from Cytopia's knowledge of basic biology of JAK kinases, a strong structural biology program that has delivered multiple co- crystal structures of JAK2 bound with inhibitors. Cytopia has also developed an extensive chemical library of JAK2 inhibitors through an integrated computational and medicinal chemistry platform.

Cytopia is developing a suite of JAK2 inhibitors for multiple indications including specific cancers, particularly lymphomas and solid tumors where JAK2 has been shown to be up-regulated, and for cardiovascular diseases such as pulmonary hypertension.

For more information please contact:

    Mr Andrew Macdonald                      Dr Chris Burns
    Chief Executive Officer                  Director, Research
    T: +61 3 9208 4232                       T: +61 3 9208 4235
    E: andrew.macdonald@cytopia.com.au       E: chris.burns@cytopia.com.au

About Cytopia

Cytopia Ltd is an Australian biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of new drugs to treat cancer and other diseases. Cytopia conducts its research and drug development through subsidiaries based in Melbourne, Australia and San Francisco, USA and specializes in developing new small molecule compounds with an improved therapeutic profile for the treatment of cancer.

The company's lead drug candidate is CYT997, a vascular disrupting agent (VDA) for the treatment of various cancers, which is currently being trialed in Phase II clinical studies. Cytopia is continuing to build on its range of JAK inhibitors and kinase expertise, with CYT387, a novel oral JAK2 inhibitor focused on the treatment of myeloproliferative disorders, expected to enter Phase I clinical studies in 2009.

Website: www.cytopia.com.au

SOURCE Cytopia Limited