BIRMINGHAM., Ala. – Southern Research Institute, a not-for-profit organization that conducts basic and applied research in the areas of preclinical drug discovery and drug development today announced that its scientists will be delivering 13 poster presentations at the AACR 102nd Annual Meeting 2011, April 2-6, in Orlando, Fla. Southern Research will also be available to meet with scientists at Booth #543.

Southern Research has discovered more than 20 anti-cancer drugs which have been accepted into clinical trials. Of those, seven have received FDA-approval, with six additional drugs currently in late stage preclinical and early clinical trials. Further, Southern Research has evaluated 50 percent of all other FDA-approved cancer drugs on the market. Contract research services include basic research and target identification, lead discovery and optimization, preclinical development and clinical trials support.

Southern Research scientists will present new preclinical data posters in the Exhibit Hall:

Sunday April 3, 2011

1:00pm – 5:00pm

#837: Novel sulindac derivatives that inhibit colon cancer growth by a cyclooxygenase-independent mechanism involving PDE5 inhibition and the suppression of nuclear ?-catenin levels (Exhibit Hall A4-C, Poster Section 34)

Monday April 4, 2011

8:00am – 12:00pm

#1053: Mouse Kremen 1 negatively regulates Wnt/?-catenin signaling in human breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cells (Exhibit Hall A4-C, Poster Section 3)

#1853: PDE5 suppression selectively induces apoptosis of human breast tumor cells and attenuates Wnt/?-catenin mediated transcription (Exhibit Hall A4-C, Poster Section 34)

#1865: Colon cancer chemopreventive properties of a non-cyclooxygenase inhibitory amide derivative of sulindac (Exhibit Hall A4-C, Poster Section 34)

1:00pm – 5:00pm

#2537: Novel 2′-deoxycytidine analogs as DNA demethylation agents (Exhibit Hall A4-C, Poster Section 26)

Tuesday April 5, 2011

8:00am – 12:00pm

#3114: Effects of tumor-stromal interactions on gene expression in panel of mouse tumor models (Exhibit Hall A4-C, Poster Section 11)

#3707: Sulindac sulfide inhibits growth and induces apoptosis of human colon tumor cells by a cGMP-dependent pathway leading to suppression of ?-catenin transcription activity (Exhibit Hall A4-C, Poster Section 34)

1:00pm – 5:00pm

#4418: Affymetrix whole genome microarray analysis of 24 human tumor xenograft models and the cell lines from which they were developed: Clustering of targets vs tumor tissue of origin (Exhibit Hall A4-C, Poster Section 24)

#4265: Bithionol as an inhibitor of tumor angiogenesis (Exhibit Hall A4-C, Poster Section 18)

#3943: Affymetrix whole genome microarray analysis of 51 human tumor cell lines representative of 16 different tissues of origin: Unsupervised hierarchical clustering (Exhibit Hall A4-C, Poster Section 6)

#4610: NO-NSAIDs inhibit colon tumor cell growth by a cGMP-independent mechanism (Exhibit Hall A4-C, Poster Section 33)

Wednesday April 6, 2011

8:00am – 12:00pm

#5443: A novel biosensor for monitoring intracellular cGMP in live cells (Exhibit Hall A4-C, Poster Section 29)

#5154: Serotonin signaling as a novel target of tumor angiogenesis (Exhibit Hall A4-C, Poster Section 18)

Southern Research will also have members of its new preclinical, non-invasive imaging team at Booth #543 on hand to discuss this new service.

About Southern Research

Southern Research Institute, founded in 1941, is an independent non-profit organization conducting basic and applied research and development. More than 530 employees support commercial and government clients and partners in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, defense, aerospace, environmental and energy sectors through technology out-licensing, sponsored research, and strategic collaborations. Headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., Southern Research has facilities in Wilsonville, Ala., Frederick, Md., and Durham, NC and offices in Huntsville, Ala., New Orleans, La., Washington, DC and Kiev, Ukraine.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – PNP Therapeutics, Inc.-an early-stage Birmingham-based biopharmaceutical company created from research conducted at Southern Research Institute and The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB)-today announced that several major objectives have been reached in the development of its therapeutic technology platform and proprietary products for the treatment of cancer.

“A number of important regulatory and financial efforts came to fruition, enabling PNP Therapeutics to begin a crucial phase in product development,” said Frank R. Hunt, chief executive officer of PNP Therapeutics, Inc. “We are delighted that we accomplished these goals so we can continue moving our technology products forward.”

According to Hunt, those objectives included:

• Receiving FDA approval of its Investigational New Drug (IND) application which will now allow PNP to conduct its first-in-man studies,
• Signing an agreement with UAB to conduct clinical trials at its Comprehensive Cancer Center,
• Enrolling and treating the first clinical trials patient,
• Closing on a second round of funding worth $1,217,635 from its original investors,
• Gaining a commitment from Southern Research Institute to become a direct investor in the company; and,
• Being awarded a $245,000 grant from the federal government as part of its Qualifying Therapeutic Discovery Project.

At the center of PNP’s Therapeutic System is a patented enzyme (E. coli purine nucleoside phosphorylase) which has been shown to work with a variety of well-characterized nucleoside prodrugs generating active metabolites with high levels of anti-tumor activity. PNP Therapeutics is the exclusive licensee of a comprehensive collection of patents that broadly and specifically cover the Company’s technology. These patents are owned jointly by the University of Alabama at Birmingham Research Foundation and Southern Research Institute of Birmingham.

Many common cancers can become untreatable despite the best medical intervention and the highest standard of care; some are eventually fatal. Compounds that could kill tumors are typically much too toxic to administer systemically to an already debilitated cancer patient.

PNP’s therapeutic strategy is based on the notion that solid tumors can be programmed to generate their own chemotherapy, causing their own self-destruction. This selectivity is achieved by producing the PNP enzyme directly within the tumor cells and facilitating the interaction between the enzyme and a circulating prodrug in a relatively enclosed environment-the tumor mass itself.

“We have shown that this mode of chemotherapeutic action is remarkably potent, abolishes otherwise refractory human cancers, and can be used safely because it is executed and confined within the tumor mass,” said Hunt.

Persons interested in learning more about this PNP Therapeutics clinical trial can access the information at www.ClinicalTrials.gov.

About PNP Therapeutics

PNP Therapeutics^®, Inc. is an early-stage, biopharmaceutical company engaged in the development of a platform technology and proprietary products for the treatment of cancer. www.pnptherapeutics.com. To learn more, please contact Frank Hunt at frankrhunt@aol.com or call 706-636-3049.