Omeros Receives $3.1 Million Milestone Payment from The Stanley Medical Research Institute for Schizophren...( SEATTLE Jan. 28 /- Omeros Corporation...),Health

SEATTLE, Jan. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Omeros Corporation today announced that it was awarded $3.1 million in a second tranche of equity and grant funding from The Stanley Medical Research Institute (SMRI) to support late-stage preclinical development of the Company's proprietary product candidates for the treatment of schizophrenia. The funds serve as a milestone payment to Omeros for having successfully met preclinical compound optimization criteria. Omeros' schizophrenia product candidates inhibit the phosphodiesterase 10 (PDE10) enzyme.

"The award of this milestone payment reaffirms the strength of the preclinical data generated by our schizophrenia program," said Gregory A. Demopulos, M.D., Chairman and CEO of Omeros. "We believe that our program could provide product candidates that have benefits not offered by existing anti-psychotics, and we are working to advance into clinical trials next year."

In December 2006, Omeros entered into an agreement with SMRI to develop Omeros' PDE10 inhibitors through Phase 1 clinical trials. Under the agreement, Omeros may receive a total of up to $9 million in grant and equity funding from SMRI. Omeros previously announced the receipt of a first tranche of grant and equity funding, $2.6 million, upon the initiation of the agreement with SMRI.

About Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is a chronic, severe and disabling brain disorder that affects about one percent of the population worldwide. It is characterized by delusions, hallucinations, disorganized communication, reduced motivation and flattened affect. Schizophrenia has a significant impact on global disease burden as a consequence of early adult onset, and a significant sub-population (approximately two-thirds) of patients experience continued symptoms despite treatment. The problem with current therapies is that none of them improve the cognitive deficit in schizophrenic patients, and almost
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