VIA Pharmaceuticals Presents Data at American Heart Association Meeting Showing VIA-2291 Significantly Reduces Inflammation in Preclinical Model of Ather...( SAN FRANCISCO and ORLANDO Fla. No...),Health

SAN FRANCISCO and ORLANDO, Fla., Nov. 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- VIA Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: VIAP), a biotechnology company focused on the development of compounds for the treatment of cardiovascular disease, today presented data showing that VIA-2291 significantly inhibited vascular inflammation in a mouse model of atherosclerosis. VIA-2291, the company's lead drug candidate, is a potent, selective and reversible inhibitor of 5-lipoxygenase (5-LO), which is a key enzyme in the biosynthesis of leukotrienes (important mediators of inflammation involved in the development and progression of atherosclerosis).

The data were presented at the Inflammation and Adhesion Molecules II session at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 2007 in Orlando, FL (poster: B138).

"These data further validate our human clinical trial program with VIA-2291," said Larry Cohen, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer of VIA. "By targeting this key pathway in vascular inflammation, we believe VIA-2291 may have the potential to reduce the major adverse cardiac events that occur as a result of the rupture of unstable plaque. We are encouraged that these data support VIA-2291 as a potential, powerful anti-inflammatory compound for the vascular system."

Atherosclerosis is the result of chronic inflammation and the buildup of plaque in arterial blood vessel walls. Research in both humans and mice has noted abundant expression of 5-LO co-localizing with macrophages in aortic lesions. These cells are often implicated in vascular inflammation in atherosclerosis.

The study used mice that were genetically modified to develop atherosclerosis. A team of researchers headed by Thomas Quertermous, M.D., chief of the
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