Statement From Sequella Founder and CEO, Dr. Carol Nacy at the 'Stop TB' Meeting in Brazil on the Eve of World TB Day

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil, March 23 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- "With multidrug (MDR) and extremely drug (XDR) resistant tuberculosis on the rise, the world-wide financial crisis is of major concern to the international health community," said Dr. Carol Nacy, CEO of Sequella. "The Global Fund to fight HIV, malaria, and TB is running a huge deficit, and public health officials fear that any gains of the last 10 years in control of TB, especially in HIV-infected patients, will be lost. The specter of untreatable TB hangs like a pall over the STOP TB Partnership meeting in Rio de Janeiro, as patient advocates and health ministers, companies and non-governmental organizations, gather to determine how best to work together to even maintain the status quo."

About Sequella (www.sequella.com)

Sequella is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on commercializing improved treatments for infectious diseases of epidemic potential. The company leverages its global influence, R&D platforms and infectious disease expertise to proactively address emerging health threats. Through focused execution, clear commercialization pathways, and strategic partnerships, Sequella intends to commercialize a broad product portfolio designed to treat global health threats with significant market opportunity.

Sequella has both drugs and diagnostics in various stages of development. The company's lead drug candidate, SQ109 is a new diamine antibiotic intended to replace one or more of the current first-line anti-TB drugs and simplify patient therapy. SQ109 was granted U.S. FDA Fast Track designation and FDA/EMEA Orphan Drug Designation in 2007. SQ109 shows activity against drug sensitive and multi-drug resistant (MDR and XDR) Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the causative agent of TB. SQ109 is due to begin a Phase 1B study to assess safety and pharmacokinetics of multiple doses of SQ109 in healthy subjects.

SQ609, a second compound being developed by Sequella is a novel small molecule dipiperidine antibiotic selected from a proprietary chemical library of over 250,000 new molecular entities with activity for a broad spectrum of infectious diseases. Orally bioavailable with excellent single-drug activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis in vitro and in vivo, SQ609 has demonstrated synergistic activity with several front-line antitubercular drugs and can be readily synthesized on a large scale. Sequella recently received a $300,000 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I Grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID), National Institutes of Health (NIH), to further fund the preclinical development this lead dipiperidine drug compound, SQ609.

Sequella is currently undergoing pivotal Phase III TB Patch trials. The TB Patch is a non-invasive point-of-care test used to detect active TB infection. The TB Patch requires no sample or laboratory processing and provides results in less than four days. Sequella holds the worldwide licensing rights for the TB Patch outside of Japan.

Forward-Looking Statement

This press release contains forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties, and includes statements that are not historical facts. Actual results could differ significantly from results discussed. Sequella disclaims any intent or obligation to update forward-looking statements, except as required by law.

SOURCE Sequella, Inc.