LEAD Therapeutics, Inc / News - September 15, 2009

LEAD Therapeutics Presents New Antibiotic with Potent Activity Against Drug Resistant Bacteria at the 49^th ICAAC

San Bruno, CA and Shanghai, China, September 15, 2009 —LEAD Therapeutics, a privately held drug discovery company, announced the discovery of a novel antibiotic with potent activity against many of the most common antibiotic resistant bacteria. LEAD will present the new glycopeptide antibiotic, LT-29, for the first time at the 49^th Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC). LT-29 is in preclinical development to treat serious infections caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and other gram-positive bacteria.

Dr. Daniel Chu, Vice President of Chemistry at LEAD Therapeutics, who is presenting the information on LT-29 as a poster, commented, “Our program to optimize both in vitro and in vivo properties of a new antibiotic has resulted in a compound with an excellent spectrum of antibacterial activity and efficacy in preclincal models. LT-29 is a very promising compound for treatment of serious bacterial infections where vancomycin may not give satisfactory results.”

LEAD selected LT-29 for development after synthesizing and testing several hundred compounds. Data presented at ICAAC showed that LT-29 has greater activity than the standard antibiotic vancomycin against a range of gram positive bacteria, including MRSA, strains with reduced sensitivity to vancomycin (vancomycin intermediate Staphylococcus aureus, “VISA”), and bacteria resistant to vancomycin (vancomycin resistant Enterococci, “VRE”). LT-29 also has improved pharmacokinetics compared with vancomycin. These properties resulted in excellent activity in animal models of Staphylococcus aureus infection, including the challenging MRSA mouse lung infection model where vancomycin has limited efficacy.

LEAD has begun exploring possibilities for corporate partnering to accelerate the molecule’s development. Dr. Peter Myers, LEAD Therapeutics Chief Executive Officer, commented, “We are convinced that LT-29 has the potential to be an important antibiotic, and have been encouraged by the initial response in our partnering discussions.”

In addition to authors from LEAD Therapeutics, the poster was co-authored by Professor Tao Ye of Pearl Materia Medica Development, ShenZhen, China; and Dr. Gary Zurenko of Micromyx LLC, Kalamazoo, Michigan. LEAD’s other collaborators on this program acknowledged in the poster were Sundia Meditech, Shanghai, China; ViviSource Laboratories, Cambridge, MA; and NAEJA Pharmaceutical, Inc., Edmonton, Canada.

A copy of the poster on LT-29 and further information on LEAD Therapeutics is available by writing to info@leadtherapeutics.com.

About LEAD Therapeutics

LEAD Therapeutics began operations in April 2007 as a drug discovery company. LEAD has offices in San Bruno, California, and in Shanghai, China. Drug discovery programs are conducted through an extensive network of collaborations with contract research organizations in China and North America, including a strategic relationship with ChemPartner in Shanghai. In addition to drug discovery activities, LEAD currently has two compounds in preclinical development: LT-673, a PARP inhibitor being developed for oncology indications; and LT-29, a glycopeptide antibiotic for gram-positive infections.

Previously announced investors in LEAD Therapeutics include Pappas Ventures, ProQuest Investments, and Mustang Ventures.

For more information, please visit the company’s website at http://www.leadtherapeutics.com.

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Contact

Peter Myers, Ph.D.
President and CEO
LEAD Therapeutics, Inc.
+1.650.737.1630 Phone
info@leadtherapeutics.com

Media

Joan Kureczka
Kureczka/Martin Associates
+1.415.821.2413 Phone
Jkureczka@comcast.net