Quark Pharmaceuticals to Present Data on its siRNA Therapeutic Programs in Kidney and Lung Diseases

Quark Pharmaceuticals to Present Data on its siRNA Therapeutic Programs in
Kidney and Lung Diseases

FREMONT, Calif., Nov. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Quark Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a
clinical-stage pharmaceutical company committed to discovering, developing and
commercializing novel RNA interference (RNAi)-based therapeutics, today
announced that James D. Thompson, Ph.D., Vice President, Pharmaceutical
Development, will present a case history of QPI-1002, the first systemically
administered synthetic siRNA, at the Joint Symposium of the 5th Annual Meeting
of Oligonucleotide Therapeutics Society and the 19th Antisense Symposium in
Fukuoka, Japan, November 3-6, 2009. The company also announced that Elena
Feinstein, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer, will participate in the RNAi
for Developing Targeted Therapeutics track at this year's CHI Discovery on
Target Conference in Boston, November 2-4, 2009.

Dr. Thompson's presentation will be part of a session titled, "Clinical
Studies and Therapeutic Development," which will be held on Thursday, November
5. The case study on QPI-1002 will detail Quark's progress in its independent
development of the first systemic administration of a synthetic siRNA in
humans, results from Quark's IND-enabling efficacy and toxicology studies and
the largest cGMP manufacture of synthetic siRNA of its time. Dr. Feinstein's
presentation, titled "Use of siRNA for Amelioration of Aseptic Lung
Inflammatory Conditions," will take place on Wednesday, November 4 and will
present Quark's preclinical studies for aseptic lung inflammation.

Daniel Zurr, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Quark, said,
"Drs. Thompson and Feinstein's presentations demonstrate Quark's leadership
and continued innovation in the discovery and development of siRNA
therapeutics. Quark's strength in preclinical discovery has promoted
development of a robust pipeline that provides our company with growth
opportunities within a broad range of therapeutic areas. We are nicely
positioned to progress our clinical stage drug candidates, including the first
systemically administered siRNA, as well as additional pre-clinical stage
compounds, through important value-enhancing milestones in 2010. We look
forward to presenting these case studies reflecting the success of our
proprietary programs."

QPI-1002 targets p53, a stress-response gene that plays a pivotal role in the
apoptotic pathway. Temporary inhibition of p53 at the time of injury delays
cell death, allowing natural repair mechanisms to restore normal DNA and
cellular integrity. QPI-1002 is currently being evaluated in a Phase I/IIa
clinical study for the prevention of acute kidney injury (AKI) and in Part A
of a Phase I/II clinical study for the prophylaxis of delayed graft function
(DGF) following renal transplantation. Both studies are scheduled to be
completed this year.

About Quark Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Quark Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company engaged
in discovering and developing novel RNAi-based therapeutics. Quark has a fully
integrated drug development platform that spans therapeutic target
identification to drug development. Quark's RNAi technology includes novel
siRNA structures and chemistry providing Quark with freedom to operate in the
siRNA intellectual property arena, as well as the ability for non-invasive
delivery of siRNA to target tissues and organs including the eye, ear, lung,
spinal cord and brain.

Quark's clinical pipeline includes PF-4523655 (RTP801i-14), currently in Phase
II clinical trials for Diabetic Macular Edema (DME) and Age-related Macular
Degeneration (AMD). PF-4523655 is a synthetic, chemically modified siRNA
designed to inhibit the expression of the gene RTP801 discovered by Quark
through the gene discovery platform BiFAR. PF-4523655 is licensed to Pfizer.
In addition, Quark's current clinical pipeline includes QPI-1002, the first
systemically administered siRNA drug in human clinical trials, developed by
Quark for the prevention of acute kidney injury (AKI) following major
cardiovascular surgery and the prophylaxis of delayed graft function after
kidney transplantation. For the structure of these products Quark has licenses
from Silence Therapeutics and from Alnylam Pharmaceuticals.

Furthermore, QPI-1007, a proprietary siRNA drug candidate that utilizes a
proprietary structure developed by Quark, is being evaluated in advanced
IND-enabling preclinical studies as a neuroprotective agent for eye diseases.
In addition, Quark has a broad pipeline of siRNA drug candidates and potential
drug candidates that have arisen from Quark's research activities. The Company
is committed to development of novel siRNA structures and expects to utilize
these structures to develop additional RNAi drug candidates.

Quark is headquartered in Fremont, California and operates research and
development facilities in Boulder, Colorado and Ness-Ziona, Israel. Additional
information is available at www.quarkpharma.com.

Quark Pharmaceuticals, Inc. The Ruth Group (investors / media)
Juliana Friedman Sara Ephraim / Janine McCargo
+972 89 30 5111 (646) 536-7004 / 7033
jfriedman@quarkpharma.com sephraim@theruthgroup.com
jmccargo@theruthgroup.com

SOURCE Quark Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Juliana Friedman, Quark Pharmaceuticals, Inc., +972 89 30 5111,
jfriedman@quarkpharma.com, Sara Ephraim, +1-646-536-7004,
sephraim@theruthgroup.com, Janine McCargo, +1-646-536-7033,
jmccargo@theruthgroup.com, both of The Ruth Group (investors / media)