Gentium Hosts Symposium on Defibrotide at EBMT Annual Meeting and Sponsors Basic Science Award


VILLA GUARDIA (COMO), Italy, April 5, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gentium S.p.A. (Nasdaq:GENT) (the "Company") today announced that the Company's lead product, Defibrotide, was the subject of a symposium, "Advances in the Management of Endothelial Complications of Haematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation: the Emerging Role of Defibrotide," on April 3, 2011 at the 37th Annual Meeting of the European Group for Blood and Marrow Transplantation in Paris.

The symposium was chaired by Dr. Enric Carreras (Barcelona, Spain) and Dr. Ernst Holler (Regensburg, Germany) and introduced by Dr. Mohamad Mohty (Nantes, France).

Key opinion leaders presented and discussed:

  • "New preclinical studies on the effects of Defibrotide for protection of endothelial alterations" by Dr. Maribel Diaz-Ricart (Barcelona, Spain)
     
  • " Defibrotide for prevention of VOD and GvHD following HSCT – Clinical experiences" by Dr. Selim Corbacioglu (Regensburg, Germany)
     
  • "Defibrotide for the treatment of hepatic VOD following HSCT – an update" by Dr. Paul Richardson (Boston, USA)
     
  • "The role of Defibrotide in HSCT: future directions" by Dr. Dietger Niederwieser (Leipzig, Germany)

The Company also sponsored the Basic Science Award, presented for the best abstract submitted to the physician's program, which was selected by a Scientific Committee of the EBMT. This year's prize-winning abstract was presented as part of the Presidential Symposium on Monday, April 4, 2011.

About Gentium

Gentium S.p.A., located in Como, Italy, is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and manufacture of drugs to treat and prevent a variety of diseases and conditions, including vascular diseases related to cancer and cancer treatments. Defibrotide, the Company's lead product candidate, is an investigational drug that has been granted Orphan Drug status by the U.S. FDA and Orphan Medicinal Product Designation by the European Commission both to treat and to prevent VOD and Fast Track Designation by the U.S. FDA to treat VOD.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

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