( High Concentrations Reached in Key Lung...)Arpida Announces Promising Results of "First-In-Man" Studies With,AR-709,Health

REINACH and BASEL, Switzerland, March 29, 2007 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Arpida Ltd. today announced promising results of "first-in-man" studies with AR-709. These radiolabelled Human Microdose studies included a total of 19 healthy male volunteers.

This groundbreaking study is the first ever using Microdosing for the determination of drug concentrations in lung compartments. The results showed that AR-709 achieves high concentrations in bronchial mucosa (BM), epithelial lining fluid (ELF) and alveolar macrophages (AM), the three key compartments of the lungs where pathogens can reside and replicate. Moreover, the results of the studies show that AR-709 exhibited a large volume of distribution and a long half life in man. Oral bioavailability was potentially low but this could be due to the low dose, poor absorption or extensive metabolism.

The studies were conducted at Hammersmith Medicines Research Ltd (London, UK) under MHRA regulatory authorisation and were coordinated by Xceleron Ltd (York, UK), the exploratory clinical development specialist and world leader in the field of Human Microdosing.

Dr Sergio Lociuro, Head of Research of Arpida Ltd. commented "I am very pleased with the results of this first human trial with AR-709. They clearly show that the compound distributes well throughout the body and more importantly in the lungs. In a substantial number of cases, community-acquired respiratory tract infections, caused by S. pneumoniae, require hospitalisation and intravenous therapy. AR-709 appears to have the necessary characteristics to eradicate the microorganisms that can result in serious infections. For cases not requiring hospitalisation and/or to accelerate patient discharge from the hospital, targeted delivery, e.g. via inhalation, could provide a valid and promising alternative to administration via the oral route. Altho
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