CHARLOTTE, N.C., Oct. 6, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- Chelsea Therapeutics, Inc. (OTCBB:CHTP) has accepted an invitation to speak at the BioPartnering Europe 2005 (BPE) Conference at 1:15 PM GMT (6:15 PM EDT) Tuesday, October 11th at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in London, England. Chelsea will present as one of eight U.S. Emerging Company Presenters.
Dr. Michael J. Roberts, Director of Business Development for Chelsea Therapeutics, Inc., will provide a company overview and update on the status of its current clinical development programs, including the pilot clinical trial of its lead compound, CH-1504.
Each year BPE showcases a number of young companies from North America, Europe and other parts of the world based on the recommendation of leading bioinvestors. This year, Chelsea Therapeutics was chosen as one of thirty companies worldwide to offer podium presentations as an "Emerging Company." In the past, BPE has featured many young companies that have gone on to become the industry's most important players. BPE will attract key decision makers from the biotechnology, pharmaceutical and financial industries, and will provide an excellent opportunity for Chelsea to showcase the merits of CH-1504.
"We are proud to be a part of the Emerging Company Presentations series at BPE this year and believe it is an extremely valuable opportunity to educate important healthcare and financial professionals on the merits of Chelsea and CH-1504," said Dr. Simon Pedder, President and CEO of Chelsea Therapeutics.
About CH-1504
In March 2004, Chelsea acquired the exclusive rights to a number of antifolate compounds, including CH-1504, its lead product candidate. These compounds lack the specific metabolism associated with side-effects known to occur with marketed antifolates such as methotrexate. CH-1504 continues successful progress in its development as a treatment for RA, psoriasis, IBD, cancer and other immunological disorders. RA affects approximately two million Americans, almost 1% of the population, and is two to three times more prevalent in women than men. Psoriasis, another condition that may be positively impacted by treatment with CH-1504, is an immune-mediated chronic skin disease that also affects millions of Americans.
An independent six-month pilot clinical study compared CH-1504 to methotrexate, the current standard of care, in 20 RA patients in Peru. Although the pilot study was not conducted in compliance with the standards necessary for its use in the U.S. regulatory approval process, the results of this study suggest that CH-1504 has lower toxicity and improved tolerability, as well as increased effectiveness versus methotrexate. Preclinical animal models have also indicated that CH-1504 may have superior efficacy and less toxicity than methotrexate, which currently accounts for almost half of the prescriptions written for the RA market.
About Chelsea Therapeutics
Chelsea Therapeutics is a development stage pharmaceutical company that acquires and develops innovative products for the treatment of a variety of human diseases. Chelsea's strategy is to develop technologies that address important unmet medical needs or offer improved, cost-effective alternatives to current methods of treatment. Specifically, we concentrate our efforts on acquiring and developing technologies for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, cancer and other immunological disorders.
This press release contains forward-looking statements regarding future events. These statements are just predictions and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual events or results to differ materially. These risks and uncertainties include risks and costs of drug development, our history of losses and need to raise more money, regulatory approvals, intellectual property risks, our reliance on our lead drug candidate CH-1504, competition, market acceptance for our products if any are approved for marketing, reliance on key personnel including specifically Dr. Pedder, management of rapid growth, and the need to acquire or develop additional products.