Alteon's alagebrium Indicates Protective Effect in Preclinical Diabetic Nephropathy Model



 -- Alagebrium appears to prevent, delay, and reverse kidney damage --
 -- Study highlights biological marker associated with drug response --

PARSIPPANY, N.J., Sept. 20, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- Alteon Inc. (AMEX:ALT) announced today that the results of a preclinical study of alagebrium, a novel Advanced Glycosylation End-product (A.G.E.) breaker and Alteon's lead compound, expands existing evidence of the potential ability of alagebrium to reverse diabetic kidney disease. It also identifies a role for biomarkers that can be used to track drug effectiveness in anticipated clinical trials of alagebrium for diabetic nephropathy and diastolic heart failure. These results are published in the current issue of the American Journal of Nephrology (Am J Nephrol 2006;26:430-436).

"This body of experiments performed by Peppa et al., attests to the potential of alagebrium to prevent, delay and reverse diabetic kidney disease, even when therapy is initiated late in the natural disease process," said Howard B. Haimes, Ph.D., Executive Director, Preclinical Sciences of Alteon. "One of the major obstacles impeding the development of drugs in heart failure and diabetic nephropathy," continued Noah Berkowitz, M.D, Ph.D., Alteon President and CEO, "is the lack of surrogate markers that can provide companies with early indications of their drug's efficacy. This study indicates that alagebrium can decrease the leakage of protein in the urine and markers of A.G.E.s in the blood. These markers may help us gain early recognition of the clinical effect of alagebrium in diabetic nephropathy and diastolic heart failure."

Diabetic nephropathy, if unchecked, typically leads to organ failure, dialysis or organ transplantation. The study by Peppa et al., evaluated the effects of alagebrium on 3, 7 and 12 month old db/db mice. This strain of mice represents a model of human diabetes and is commonly used for drug evaluation. The authors made the following observations:


 -- A.G.E.s can be important pathologic agents responsible for the 
    morphologic and functional deficits of diabetic nephropathy. 

 -- Alagebrium appears to protect kidney structure and function and 
    reverses A.G.E - mediated effects on the kidney. 
                              
 -- As early as the 3rd week of treatment, alagebrium decreases the 
    serum concentration of eN-carboxymethyllysine (CML), a marker of 
    Advanced Glycation End-products (A.G.E.s), by 41%, concomitant 
    with increasing urinary excretion of CML by 138%. 

 -- By 3 months of treatment, alagebrium reduces serum, skin and 
    kidney levels of CML, while increasing their output in the urine. 

 -- A rise in the albumin/creatinine ratio and morphological and 
    structural changes associated with diabetic nephropathy can be 
    slowed or reversed by alagebrium.

Diabetic nephropathy is a major contributor to the overall morbidity of diabetes. The American Diabetes Association estimates that 20-30% of people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes will develop evidence of overt nephropathy, an advanced stage of the disease marked by proteinuria (the presence of proteins in the urine). After the onset of proteinuria, over 75% of type 1 diabetics and 20% of type 2 diabetics progress to ESRD (End-Stage Renal Disease) within 20 years. The discrepancy may be explained by the fact that patients with type 2 diabetes have a greater risk of dying from coronary artery disease than from kidney failure and therefore do not progress to ESRD. Nonetheless, because type 2 diabetes accounts for up to 95% of all diabetes cases, over half of the diabetic patients starting dialysis are type 2. After the start of dialysis, the mortality rate for people with diabetic nephropathy is approximately 38% within two years, and nearly 73% die within 5 years.

About Alteon

Alteon is a product-based biopharmaceutical company engaged in the development of small molecule drugs to treat and prevent the inflammatory aspects of cardiovascular disease and diabetes. The Company has identified several promising product candidates that it believes represent novel approaches to some of the largest pharmaceutical markets.

The Company's lead drug candidate alagebrium is a product of its drug discovery and development program. Alagebrium has demonstrated potential efficacy in two clinical trials in heart failure, as well as in animal models of heart failure and nephropathy, among others. It has been tested in approximately 1,000 patients in a number of Phase 1 and Phase 2 clinical trials. The Company's goal is to develop alagebrium in diastolic heart failure. This disease represents a rapidly growing market of unmet medical need, particularly common among diabetic patients, and alagebrium has demonstrated relevant clinical activity in two Phase 2 clinical trials.

The Company's portfolio also includes orally bioavailable, organoselenium mimics of glutathione peroxidase that metabolize lipid peroxides and have the potential to limit myocardial damage subsequent to a myocardial infarction. Alteon's lead compound for that program, ALT-2074, is in Phase 2 clinical trials. The Company also has rights to a diagnostic assay that identifies the large subset of diabetic patients at highest risk for cardiovascular complications, because of a defect in oxidized lipid metabolism that results in increased cardiovascular inflammation. For more detailed information about Alteon's research and development, please visit Alteon's website at www.alteon.com.

Any statements contained in this press release that relate to future plans, events or performance are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties including, but not limited to, those relating to Alteon's ability to continue the development of alagebrium and ALT-2074, technology and product development (including the possibility that early clinical trial results may not be predictive of results that will be obtained in large-scale testing or that any clinical trials will not demonstrate sufficient safety and efficacy to obtain requisite approvals or will not result in marketable products), regulatory approval processes, the combined company's ability to obtain sufficient funding to continue as a going concern, intellectual property rights and litigation, competitive products, and other risks identified in Alteon's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Further information on risks faced by Alteon are detailed under the caption "Risk Factors" in Alteon's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2005 and in subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q dated August 14, 2006. These filings are available on a website maintained by the Securities and Exchange Commission at http://www.sec.gov. The information contained in this press release is accurate as of the date indicated. Actual results, events or performance may differ materially. Alteon undertakes no obligation to publicly release the result of any revision to these forward- looking statements that may be made to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.


            

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