Northfield Laboratories Inc. Presentation at FDA/NIH Workshop on Hemoglobin-Based Oxyge...( EVANSTON Ill. April 29 /- Northfi...),Health

EVANSTON, Ill., April 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Northfield Laboratories Inc. (Nasdaq: NFLD) announced today that Steven A. Gould, M.D., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, presented a talk on the clinical development of PolyHeme(R), the Company's investigational red cell substitute at an FDA/NIH Workshop on Hemoglobin-Based Oxygen Carriers. Dr. Gould's talk focused primarily on data from Northfield's trials in acute blood loss: earlier trials in hospitalized trauma patients and the recent U.S. Multicenter Trauma trial. The presentation is available on the Company website, http://www.northfieldlabs.com.

"The indication we are seeking for PolyHeme(R), the treatment of life-threatening hemoglobin levels when blood transfusion is required and red blood cells are not available or not an option, addresses a critical, unmet medical need and presents unique challenges for the conduct of clinical trials," said Dr. Gould.

Dr. Gould reviewed data from the study in hospitalized trauma patients, the results of which were published in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons in 2002. The study included 171 patients with acute blood loss who received up to 20 units of PolyHeme(R), or twice the blood volume of an adult, during ongoing bleeding. This study demonstrated the life-sustaining capability of PolyHeme(R) in patients with life-threatening red blood cell hemoglobin levels compared to historical controls who refused blood transfusion due to their religious beliefs.

In reviewing the data from the U.S. Multicenter study, Dr. Gould noted that Northfield's study was logistically complex, and was the first study of a red cell substitute in the U.S. to begin at the
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