( GERMANTOWN Md. June 13 2007 /PRNews...)Avalon Updates the AVN944 Phase I Hematologic Malignancies Trial,Health

GERMANTOWN, Md., June 13, 2007 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Avalon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. , today announced that it is will provide an update on the Phase I clinical trial of AVN944 in hematologic malignancies on Tuesday, June 19, 2007, after the close of the U.S. financial markets. The Company will also host a conference call on Wednesday, June 20, 2007 at 8 a.m. Eastern Time. Interested investors, analysts, members of the media and the general public can listen to the call over the Internet from the investor section of the Company's website or by dialing the numbers listed below. A PowerPoint presentation will accompany the webcast presentation.

    Conference Call Details:

    ------------------------

    Dial-In:   (800) 291-5365(U.S.)

               (617) 614-3922 (International)

               Passcode:  74005634

    Webcast:   Please go to www.avalonrx.com, Investor Relations, within

               15 minutes prior to the call and select the webcast link. If

               listening by phone and viewing the slides, please choose the

               'Live Phone' option to view the slides in real time as there is

               a 30 second delay otherwise.


    The conference call replay will be available through August 15,2007.

About AVN944

AVN944 is an oral small molecule drug candidate that inhibits inosine monosphospate dehydrogenase (IMPDH), an enzyme that is critical for cells to be able to synthesize guanosine triphosphate (GTP), a molecule required for DNA synthesis and cellular signaling. IMPDH is over expressed in some cancer cells, especially in the case of hematological malignancies. In laboratory experiments, AVN944 has been shown to inhibit IMPDH activity in cells, and suppress pools of GTP. Anticancer activities of IMPDH inhibitors correlate with sustained depletion of GTP pools both in cellular models a
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