HOUSTON, April 6, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- CytoGenix, Inc. (OTCBB:CYGX) announces the filing of a patent application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for an invention titled Oligodeoxynucleotide Intervention for Prevention and Treatment of Sepsis. This filing is a continuation of the ongoing program to protect this breakthrough technology.
Sepsis is a systemic inflammatory response to an infection primarily in the circulatory system. If untreated, it can lead to organ failure and death. The CDC reports that the incidence of sepsis has increased from 164,000 cases in 1979 to 660,000 cases in 2000. Sepsis is the 11th leading cause of death (9.3% of all deaths) in the United States.
The nation's annual cost associated with sepsis care is approximately $17 billion and the average length of hospital stay is 19.6 days per patient. The incidence of sepsis is likely to increase because of an aging population and the widespread use of broad-spectrum antibiotics that cause pathogens to mutate and become resistant.
Recent animal studies have shown that CytoGenix' gene silencing compound eliminates sepsis in mice. In several experiments, the control group of untreated infected animals died while those injected with the compound survived and flourished even after 14-days post-infection. These results are unequivocal and plans are underway to expand the animal studies to other species in preparation for submission of an Investigational New Drug application to the FDA later this year.
Dr. Malcolm Skolnick, CytoGenix President and CEO commented, "These preclinical experiments have shown that this technology is highly effective in quickly reducing bacterial load in living animals. This is extremely important when fighting an infection that can cause death within hours in people who have suffered trauma, are post-operative or are immunocompromised.
"Another important feature of this technology is that it was designed to target genes that are absolutely essential to the existence of the organism. For this reason, the bacteria cannot become resistant by mutating this gene because any change will result in its death," adds Dr. Skolnick.
CytoGenix, Inc. is a Houston-based biopharmaceutical company that develops and markets innovative products and services based on its proprietary ssDNA expression technology. CytoGenix currently has one issued US patent and 37 international or US pending patent applications claiming methods and materials in connection with this platform technology.
SAFE HARBOR: Except for statements of historical fact, the statements in this press release are forward-looking. Such statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the statements made. These factors include, but are not limited to, general economic conditions, risks associated with the acceptance of new products, competition, and other factors more fully detailed in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Additional information about CytoGenix and its technology can be found on the website at www.cytogenix.com.