Ardea Biosciences Presents Preclinical Anti-Inflammatory Data on its Lead MEK Inhibitor, RDEA119, at the ACG 2008 Annu...( SAN DIEGO Oct. 7 /- Ardea Bioscie...),Health

SAN DIEGO, Oct. 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Ardea Biosciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: RDEA) announced today that a poster entitled "RDEA119, a Potent and Highly Selective MEK1/2 Inhibitor is Beneficial in Dextran Sulfate Sodium (DSS) -- induced Chronic Colitis in Mice," was presented at the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG) 2008 Annual Meeting in Orlando, Florida. The poster, which provided data from a preclinical study of RDEA119, the Company's lead mitogen-activated ERK kinase (MEK) inhibitor, showed the product candidate to be a promising investigational therapy for inflammatory diseases.

Oral administration of RDEA119 was shown to significantly reduce damage to colonic tissue and disease activity in dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) -- induced chronic colitic mice. The beneficial effect of RDEA119 exceeded that of Remicade(R) (infliximab), the current standard-of-care for the treatment of ulcerative colitis.

"Blocking the MEK1/2 pathway appears to be a promising strategy for treating inflammatory disease, for which a significant unmet medical need still exists," commented Dr. Barry Quart, PharmD, president and chief executive officer. "We are making excellent progress with our programs addressing inflammatory disease and the data presented today demonstrate the potential of our MEK inhibitors, RDEA119 and our second generation MEK inhibitor, RDEA436, as treatments for these diseases, and support our continued efforts in this area."

Earlier this year, the Company successfully completed a Phase 1 study of RDEA119 in healthy volunteers in which the product candidate demonstrated a long half-life and a favorable pharmacokinetic profile. The Company plans to initiate a Phase 1b clinical trial of RDEA119 in gouty arthritis l
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