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PRESS RELEASES ADVENTRX Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Announces Formation of Scientific Advisory Board Leaders in Anticancer and Antiviral areas to Advise Company As Clinical Activities Accelerate SAN DIEGO – August 6, 2003 – ADVENTRX Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (OTCBB: AVRX - News) announced today the formation of its new Scientific Advisory Board, consisting of three well known academic experts in the areas of anticancer and antiviral development. The company appointed effective immediately, Edward Chu, M.D., Douglas Richman, M.D. and Jeffrey Weber, M.D., Ph.D. "The formation of our new Scientific Advisory Board is yet one more step in our transformation from a pre-clinical research organization to a biopharmaceutical development company," said Nicholas Jon Virca, CEO of ADVENTRX. "We are delighted to be able to rely upon the advice of such accomplished individuals in the areas of cancer and HIV. We feel that now was an appropriate time to form relationships with experts in these fields, as we have already commenced an active clinical schedule. We will soon begin a Ib/IIa HIV clinical trial for BlockAide/CR and expect to report results during QIV. In addition, we plan to file an IND later this year for EradicAide therapeutic vaccine for HIV. Finally, we expect to begin Phase II trials later this year for CoFactor to treat metastatic colorectal cancer. Our newly appointed scientific advisors add outside expertise that will enable us to do a better job of defining and implementing our clinical development programs." Dr. Chu is Professor of Medicine and Pharmacology at the Yale University School of Medicine. He received his M.D. degree from Brown University where he also completed his residency training in internal medicine. At the National Cancer Institute, his fellowship training was in medical oncology, where he became a Senior Clinical Investigator before coming to Yale in 1996. He is currently the Co-Director of the Developmental Therapeutics Program at the Yale Cancer Center. Dr. Chu is well known for his investigations concerning resistance to fluoropyrimidines and in the understanding of the regulation of expression of thymidylate synthase. This work is of significant importance to ADVENTRX because of its lead cancer compound CoFactor, which is used with fluoropyrimidines to target TS inhibition and is approved to begin Phase II human clinical trials in the United States. Dr. Richman is Professor of Pathology and Medicine at UCSD (University of California San Diego). He is Director of the Research Center for AIDS and HIV infection at the VA San Diego Healthcare System, where the Company intends to conduct its first HIV trial for the HIV viral entry inhibitor, BlockAide/CR™, later this year. Dr. Richman is also Director of the Center for AIDS Research at UCSD. He trained as an infectious disease physician and medical virologist at Stanford, the NIH (National Institutes of Health) and Harvard before joining the faculty at UCSD in 1976. He has focused his investigations on HIV disease and pathogenesis for the past 20 years. His laboratory was the first to identify HIV drug resistance and joined two other labs in identifying latently infected CD4 cells as the obstacle to eradication of HIV with potent antiretroviral therapy. Dr. Weber is Director, USC (University of Southern California)/Norris Melanoma Center, Co-Director, Developmental Therapeutics Program, USC/Norris Cancer Center and Associate Professor of Medicine and Molecular Microbiology/Immunology, Keck School of Medicine at USC and has been on the USC faculty since 1995. He earned his medical degree from the New York University Medical Center and a Ph.D. from the Rockefeller University in New York City. His clinical and research interests have been aimed at the immunotherapy of cancer. Dr. Weber has used a variety of ex-vivo techniques employing immune system cells to stimulate the immune system of cancer patients against their individual tumors. Dr. Weber's work in the area of immunotherapy, including dendritic cell treatments, is of great importance to the Company in its initial human trials with the HIV therapeutic vaccine, EradicAide, as well as the Company's future developments in immunotherapies for cancer. About ADVENTRX Pharmaceuticals ADVENTRX Pharmaceuticals Inc. is a biopharmaceutical research and development company whose business strategy is to commercialize leading edge medical research through licensing agreements with prominent universities and research institutions. The Company focuses its energy in cancer and antiviral research to launch products that either extend the usefulness of current therapies or replace marginal therapies with new approaches to treatment. This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements are made based on management's current expectations and beliefs. Actual results may vary from those currently anticipated based upon a number of factors, including uncertainties inherent in the drug development process, the timing and success of clinical trials, the validity of research results, and the receipt of necessary approvals from the United States Food and Drug Administration. The Company undertakes no obligation to release publicly any revisions, which may be made to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof. Contact: Biokeys Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Nicholas Jon Virca, 858/271-9671, Fax 858/271-9678 virca@adventrx.com or CEOCast, Inc. for ADVENTRX Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Matthew Henderson, 212/732-4300 Fax: 212/732-1131 mhenderson@ceocast.com |
