PolyMedix, Inc.(fka PYMXQ)

[di4]

PolyMedix to Present at 22nd International Conference on Antiviral Research (ICAR)
Miami Beach Resort & Spa, Miami, Florida, USAMay 3rd - May 7th, 2009
May 5, 2009 8:31:00 AM
Copyright Business Wire 2009


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View Additional ProfilesRADNOR, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- PolyMedix, Inc. (OTC BB: PYMX, www.polymedix.com), an emerging biotechnology company developing acute care products for infectious diseases and acute cardiovascular disorders based on biomimetics, will make a poster presentation at the 22nd International Conference on Antiviral Research. The poster will be given by PolyMedix Scientific Advisor Dr. David Miller, on Tuesday, May 5, at the Miami Beach Resort & Spa in Florida. In addition, PolyMedix was one of a select few companies invited to orally present their results. This oral presentation will occur on Thursday, May 7 at 11am.

Titled "Selected antimicrobial compounds against M. tuberculosis show significant activity in vitro for more effective treatment in HIV co-infected patients," the presentation focuses on the mechanism of action of PolyMedix compounds and their activity against the tuberculosis bacterium, and why the Company believes bacterial drug resistance is unlikely to develop to these compounds. Record levels of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR) and extensively drug resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) were reported in 2007, with a 90% mortality rate among patients co infected with HIV/MDR-/XDR-TB.

Distinguishing them from other antibiotic compounds currently on the market, PolyMedix's compounds are synthetic chemical mimics of host defense proteins, one of the oldest and most effective antimicrobial defense systems found in virtually all living creatures. PolyMedix's compounds are the first and only known small molecule mimetics of host defense proteins intended to treat systemic infections. They have a novel mechanism of action, the direct biophysical disruption of bacterial cell membranes, which the Company believes makes development of bacterial resistance unlikely.

PolyMedix's lead defensin-mimetic antibiotic compound, PMX-30063, is currently in Phase I human clinical testing. On December 10, 2008, PolyMedix announced the results and successful outcome of the first Phase I human clinical study with PMX-30063. PolyMedix plans to develop PMX-30063 as a pan-Staph agent, for the broad treatment of many forms of Staphylococcus infections. The compounds described in the ICAR poster, which share the same mechanism of action as PMX-30063, represent new molecules for possible development as potential treatments for tuberculosis.

PolyMedix believes that the development of new therapeutic options for treating susceptible as well as MDR/XDR TB is predictably the most effective way to significantly decrease global morbidity related to HIV infection. PolyMedix has developed a series of small, non-peptidic antimicrobial compounds effectively mimicking the activity of host defense proteins, three of which have exhibited high antimicrobial activity against, and selectivity for, the H37Rv strain of M. tuberculosis. Emerging structure-activity relationships suggest promising medicinal chemistry approaches to optimize activity and selectivity against M. tuberculosis. There is an urgent need for developing novel anti-TB drugs active against MDR/XDR strains, requiring shorter treatment duration times that do not interfere with existing HIV therapies and thwart bacterial responses leading to drug resistance.

The purpose of the International Conference on Antiviral Research (ICAR), is to provide an interdisciplinary forum where investigators involved in basic, applied, and clinical research worldwide can meet to review recent developments in all areas of antiviral research. The Conference covers topics of current interest and concern ranging from the design and synthesis of new potential drugs to current results from clinical trials. The meeting provides a truly interdisciplinary view of contemporary antiviral drug research that should be of interest to chemists, biologists, and clinicians. For more information on the conference please see the website at http://isar.phrm.cf.ac.uk/node/8.

For more news and information on PolyMedix, Inc., please visit www.IRGnews.com/coi/PYMX where you can find the CEO's video, a fact sheet on the company, investor presentations, and more.

About PolyMedix, Inc.

PolyMedix is a publicly traded biotechnology company focused on the development of novel drugs and biomaterials for the treatment of infectious diseases and acute cardiovascular disorders. PolyMedix's compounds are based on biomimetics: non-peptide small molecule drug candidates that mimic the activity of proteins. The Company's antibiotic compounds, including PMX-30063 - small molecule mimetics of human host-defense proteins - have a completely different mechanism of action from current antibiotic drugs, a mechanism which is intended to make bacterial resistance unlikely to develop. The Company's goal is to develop these as rapidly acting antibiotics for serious systemic and local infections. The Company plans to continue the development of polymeric formulations as antimicrobial biomaterials, which can be used as additives to paints, plastics, and textiles to create self-sterilizing products and surfaces. The Company's heptagonist compounds, including PMX-60056, reverse the activity of both heparin and Low Molecular Weight Heparins, with the goal of developing an antagonist drug that is safer and easier to use than currently approved therapy. For more information, please visit PolyMedix on its website at www.polymedix.com.

This press release contains forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that involve risks and that could cause PolyMedix's actual results and experience to differ materially from anticipated results and expectations expressed in these forward looking statements. PolyMedix has in some cases identified forward-looking statements by using words such as "anticipates," "believes," "hopes," "estimates," "looks," "expects," "plans," "intends", "goal", "potential," "may", and similar expressions. Among other things, there can be no assurance that PolyMedix's compounds will enter or successfully complete clinical testing or be granted regulatory approval to be sold and marketed in the Unites States or elsewhere. A more complete description of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions is included in PolyMedix's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. You should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. PolyMedix undertakes no obligation to release publicly the results of any revisions to any such forward-looking statements that may be made to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this press release or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as required by applicable law or regulation.




Source: PolyMedix, Inc.


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