ATLANTA, July 16, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Tikvah Therapeutics, Inc. (Tikvah) and Chicago-based Apkarian Technologies, LLC (Apkarian) announced today that Tikvah has entered into an exclusive licensing agreement with Apkarian for patents and patent applications involving certain agonists of specific sites of the NMDA receptor.

These newly-acquired rights provide Tikvah with claims encompassing the chronic treatment of pain and pain-related indications with glycine receptor agonists as a monotherapy or in combination therapy with certain other agents. This new license further broadens Tikvah's existing intellectual property estate.

The subject of this agreement is technology developed by Dr. A. Vania Apkarian, who is a leading researcher in the area of pain and perception. This work has suggested that treatment with certain classes of glycine receptor agonists, alone or in combination with other agents, can be used to treat chronic pain as well as modify the structural brain changes that occur under conditions of chronic pain. "We are delighted that Tikvah Therapeutics sees the potential benefit of our technologies for the treatment of chronic pain," said Dr. A. Vania Apkarian, President of Apkarian Technologies, LLC and Professor of Physiology, The Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University.

Dr. Apkarian's studies of various brain processes in humans and animals using non-invasive brain imaging techniques coupled with brain electrophysiology and knowledge of neural networks afford a differentiated approach to our understanding of the perception of touch and pain.

"We believe that the technology developed by Dr. Apkarian represents a promising approach to the treatment of certain types of chronic pain," said Dr. Harold H. Shlevin, President and Chief Executive Officer of Tikvah Therapeutics, Inc. "We are excited to explore clinical applications of these technologies to alleviate human suffering, especially by advancing clinical approaches to better treat chronic pain."

About Chronic Pain

Chronic pain is distinguished from acute pain. Acute pain is a normal sensation triggered in the nervous system to alert one to possible injury. Chronic pain is characterized by signals that keep firing in the nervous system for weeks, months, or even years. There may have been an initial mishap, for example a sprained back, serious infection, or there may be an ongoing cause of pain, such as arthritis or cancer. However, some people suffer chronic pain in the absence of any past injury or evidence of body damage. Many chronic pain conditions affect older adults. Common chronic pain complaints include headache, low back pain, cancer pain, arthritis pain, neurogenic pain (pain resulting from damage to the peripheral nerves or to the central nervous system itself), and psychogenic pain (pain not due to past disease or injury or any visible sign of damage inside or outside the nervous system). More than one quarter of Americans (26 percent) age 20 years and over -- or, an estimated 76.5 million Americans -- report that they have had a problem with pain of any sort that persisted for more than 24-hours in duration. It should be noted that this number does not account for acute pain. Adults aged 45 to 64 years were the most likely to report pain lasting more than 24 hours (30 percent). Twenty-five percent (25 percent) of young adults aged 20 to 44 reported pain, and adults aged 65 and over were the least likely to report pain (21 percent).

Further information on chronic pain maybe found at National Center for Health Statistics. Health, United States, 2006 with Chartbook on Trends in the Health of Americans. Hyattsville, MD: 68-71.

About Tikvah Therapeutics

Atlanta-based Tikvah Therapeutics, Inc. focuses on exploring new uses for late-stage pharmaceutical compounds in selected therapeutic indications of central nervous system diseases, including neurology and psychiatry disorders. Its focus is on new therapeutic uses that have been confirmed in multiple, clinical proof-of-concept studies. This strategy shortens product development timelines and substantially decreases the risk associated with the research and development efforts. A second prong of its strategy is to focus on specialized products with multiple stepping-stone indications and strong patent protections, thus helping to ensure long product life cycles and manageable commercial risk. Tikvah Therapeutics was founded by Paramount BioSciences, LLC. For additional information about Tikvah Therapeutics, please visit www.tikvahtherapeutics.com.

About Paramount BioSciences

Paramount BioSciences, LLC is a global drug development and healthcare investment firm that conceives, nurtures, and supports new biotechnology and life-sciences companies. For additional information about Paramount BioSciences, please visit www.paramountbio.com.

About Apkarian Technologies

Chicago-based Apkarian Technologies, LLC, owns and represents some of the intellectual work that has been developed in Dr. Apkarian's research lab. The focus is to transfer new knowledge quickly from the lab to the clinical forum by having strong ties with biotech corporations. The main emphasis is in the field of pain relief, using lab research hypothesis driven studies with clear applicability to specific clinical pain conditions.

"TIKVAH THERAPEUTICS, INC.," and "Bringing Hope to Life," are trademarks of Tikvah Therapeutics, Inc., Atlanta, Georgia U.S.A.