CHARLOTTE, N.C., Oct. 17, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- Chelsea Therapeutics, Inc. (OTCBB:CHTP), has accepted an invitation to speak at the BIO InvestorForum 2005 at 11:20 AM PST Thursday, October 20th at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco. Chelsea is one of 190 public and venture stage biotechnology companies scheduled to present at the conference, which is organized by the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO).
Dr. Simon Pedder, President and CEO of Chelsea Therapeutics, will provide a company overview, focusing on Chelsea's lead product candidate, CH-1504, which recently entered Phase I clinical trials in the U.K.
BIO InvestorForum 2005 is a national investor forum that will be attended by institutional investors, venture and private equity investors, as well as research analysts and bankers representing leading banks in the biotechnology sector. The goal of the conference is to explore investment trends and opportunities in life sciences, with a focus on public and venture-stage growth companies.
Live Web Cast
Members of the financial community, the media and other interested parties can access a live webcast of the presentation via a link on Chelsea's corporate website, www.chelseatherapeutics.com. An archive of the webcast will be available on the Company's web site following the presentation.
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 biopharmaceutical development company that acquires and develops innovative products for the treatment of a variety of human diseases. Chelsea develops technologies that address important unmet medical needs or offer improved, cost-effective alternatives to current methods of treatment. Early clinical data suggests that Chelsea's lead product candidate, CH-1504, may support a safe and effective treatment for rheumatoid arthritis and may have further applications for psoriasis, certain cancers 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.