Aposense(R) Imaging Agent Detects Early Cell Death Induced by Radiation in Patients With Brain Metastases

PETACH-TIKVA, ISRAEL, Jun 16 (MARKET WIRE) --
An imaging agent used during PET scans to highlight apoptosis (programmed
cell death) appears to help oncologists detect the effect of radiation
treatment on brain metastases (tumors from elsewhere in the body that
have spread to the brain) early in treatment, according to new data
presented today at the 56th Annual Meeting of the Society of Nuclear
Medicine, taking place June 13-17 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

"Patients with brain metastases have a poor prognosis. The sooner we know
if a tumor is responding the more we can help these patients. These
results have the potential to radically change the way we as oncologists
think about monitoring treatment response," said Aaron Allen, MD, a
radiation oncologist at the Davidoff Comprehensive Cancer Center of the
Rabin Medical Center, in Petach-Tikva, Israel, and the principal
investigator on the trial. "By using this imaging agent known as
[18F]-ML-10, we might be able to immediately measure the rate of
programmed cell death induced by radiation, and evaluate whether
treatment is effective early on, whereas standard imaging only allows us
to evaluate treatment two or three months after it was completed."

[18F]-ML-10 (ML-10) is a PET tracer developed by Aposense Ltd., the
leading developer of agents targeting apoptosis (programmed cell death)
for molecular imaging and therapy.

For the study, physicians administered ML-10 radio-labeled with the
radio-isotope 18-F to ten patients with brain metastases and performed a
PET scan to determine baseline levels of apoptosis, which occurs
spontaneously within the pre-treatment tumor. They administered ML-10 and
performed another PET scan on day nine or 10 to identify changes in
apoptosis as a result of treatment.

Seven patients completed the study and eight tumors were available for
evaluation. All tumors demonstrated at baseline clear images of
pre-treatment apoptosis, with ML-10 uptake increasing over time within the
tumors as compared to the non-target tissue or blood, confirming selective
retention of ML-10 in apoptotic regions of the non-treated tumors, as
expected given the known presence of spontaneous tumor apoptosis.
Following treatment, the signal to background ratio in irradiated tumors
increased over time nearly 2-fold and showed a marked enhancement of the
accumulation rate of ML-10.

"We are pleased to see additional evidence that imaging treatment induced
cell death with ML-10 may provide physicians early indication of the
tumor's response to treatment," said Yoram Ashery, CEO of Aposense. "We
look forward to presenting additional follow-up data on the clinical
response of these patients soon."

About Apoptosis

Apoptosis is a genetically controlled program of cell death, inherent in
any nucleated cell in the body and therefore often referred to also as
"cell suicide." Upon activation, the apoptotic program executes a
well-characterized sequence of events by which the cell undergoes
fragmentation and elimination by macrophages, without damaging the
surrounding tissue. Apoptosis is a universal process of cell death and it
plays a role in most medical disorders, making it one of the important
processes of cell biology. For example, apoptosis has important roles in
oncology, both in the process of tumor growth, as well as in treatment
with most therapies which aim to induce death in cancer cells. Targeting
cells undergoing apoptosis, for imaging or delivering therapy, can
therefore have broad clinical applications.

About Molecular Imaging

Molecular imaging is an emerging field which aims to non-invasively
visualize biological processes in vivo. The ability to image
disease-related biological processes may allow physicians to detect
disease early, characterize the disease better and to personalize
treatment by real-time monitoring of therapeutic effect. Molecular
imaging depends on special molecules (probes) that can selectively target
these biological processes, while carrying an imaging moiety for
visualization, such as 18F or other positron emitting radio-isotopes that
can be visualized by PET.

About APOSENSE

Aposense Ltd. is a molecular imaging and drug development company, leading
the translation of the science of apoptosis (programmed cell death) into
clinical practice. Aposense introduces novel imaging and therapeutic
agents based on rationally designed, nano-mechanisms for selective
targeting of cells undergoing apoptosis. Aposense technology is based on
a new, patented class of small molecular probes that selectively identify
and accumulate within apoptotic (dying) cells in vivo. Apoptosis plays a
role in many disease areas, including oncology, neurology and cardiology.
Aposense probes for Molecular Imaging enables real-time visualization of
the biological activity of disease, its onset, change in course and
response to therapy, and to personalize treatment for the individual
patient in cancer and other diseases. Therapeutic applications of
Aposense technology in pre-clinical development include targeted
anticancer therapy by using apoptotic cells in tumors as targets for
specific delivery and activation of cytotoxic agents in the tumor. For
additional information, visit http://www.aposense.com

Contacts:

David Carey
Lazar Partners Ltd.
212-867-1768
Email Contact

Nitzi Avro
Aposense
+972-54-466-0555
Email Contact

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