MONMOUTH JUNCTION, N.J., March 8, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- VioQuest Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (OTCBB:VQPH) subsidiary Chiral Quest is hosting the first annual Process Research Technology Conference, an all-day, invitation-only event, on Thursday, March 9, 2006. The conference is scheduled to feature leaders in the fields of process development and catalysis who will present their latest research and case studies to a collection of Chiral Quest's current customers.
"This symposium, the first of its kind from Chiral Quest, will help us illustrate the continued critical importance of these fields in the development and commercialization of new pharmaceutical compounds," said K. Barry Sharpless, Ph.D, VioQuest's Scientific Advisory Board Chairman, who will present on selective catalysis with ruthenium and copper. Dr. Sharpless is the W.M. Keck Professor of Chemistry at The Scripps Research Institute, a member of the Skaggs Institute for Chemical Biology and the world authority on chiral chemistry. He is best known for discovering three "name" reactions -- the general methods for catalytic asymmetric epoxidation, dihydroxylation and aminohydroxylation.
Dr. Sharpless will be joined by other leaders in the industry for a series of talks that impact the drug development process. They include Xumu Zhang, Ph.D., Founder and Chief Technical Officer of Chiral Quest and a professor of chemistry at Penn State University; Chris Senenayake, Ph.D., Vice President of Chemical Development at Boehringer-Ingelheim; Yongkui Sun, Ph.D., Director of Merck & Company; William Nugent, Ph.D., Senior Research Fellow at Bristol-Myers Squib; Joel Hawkins, Ph.D., Senior Research Fellow at Pfizer, and Tony Zhang, Ph.D., Research Fellow at Eli Lilly & Company.
"In addition to providing Chiral Quest's customers with our extraordinary array of products and services, which include chemical catalysts, ligands, building blocks and custom contract synthesis services, we are pleased to also provide them with this opportunity to meet with and hear from some of the influential leaders in chiral chemistry," said Daniel Greenleaf, CEO of VioQuest Pharmaceuticals.
The conference will be held at the Doral Forrestal Hotel and Conference Center, 100 College Road East, Princeton, N.J., from 11:30 a.m. to 8:15 p.m.
About VioQuest Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
VioQuest Pharmaceuticals, Inc.'s strategy is to acquire, develop, and commercialize targeted late preclinical and early clinical stage therapies with unique mechanisms of action for oncology, viral and autoimmune disorders. The Company is developing two novel anti-cancer agents, VQD-001 and VQD-002, for the treatment of melanoma, myeloma, lymphoma; and breast, ovarian, pancreatic, colorectal cancers, respectively. VioQuest's life science subsidiary, Chiral Quest, Inc., a pioneer in asymmetric synthesis, offers proprietary chiral catalysts and synthesis expertise for creating important chiral intermediates and products, which improves the safety, efficacy and manufacturing efficiency of pharmaceutical products. Through Chiral Quest, VioQuest provides products and services to fine chemical manufacturers and twelve of the top eighteen pharmaceutical companies worldwide. For more information please visit www.vioquestpharm.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause VioQuest's actual results and experiences to differ materially from the anticipated results and expectations expressed in these forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current expectations, forecasts and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially from these statements. Among other things, there can be no assurances that any of VioQuest's research programs and compounds will be successfully commercialized. Risks, uncertainties and assumptions also include the possibility that the market for the sale of certain products may not develop as expected; and that development of these products may not proceed as planned. Additional risks are described in VioQuest's Annual Report on Form 10-KSB for the year ended December 31, 2004. VioQuest assumes no obligation and does not intend to update these forward-looking statements, except as required by law.