( Intravascular Ultrasound Demonstrates ...)Presentations at American College of Cardiology Meeting Highlight,New Opportunities for HDL Therapy,Health

Intravascular Ultrasound Demonstrates Utility in Evaluating Drug Efficacy; Dr. H. Bryan Brewer, Jr. Sees Enormous Potential for HDL Therapy

PLEASANTON, CA, Mar 30, 2007 (MARKET WIRE via COMTEX News Network) -- Lipid Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: LIPD) Dr. H. Bryan Brewer, Jr., Chief Scientific Director of Lipid Sciences, Inc., concluded from the wide range of presentations at the recent American College of Cardiology (ACC) Meeting in New Orleans that the rationale for HDL being the next, most logical target for the development of treatments for cardiovascular disease continues to exhibit enormous potential. This conclusion is even more compelling in light of the recent, highly publicized failure of the CETP inhibitor, torcetrapib.

This week at the ACC meeting, the latest data on three imaging trials, which included an intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) study, with Pfizer's HDL raising drug, torcetrapib were presented. Torcetrapib is a member of a class of drugs which increase HDL by inhibiting the cholesterol ester transfer protein (CETP). ILLUMINATE, a morbidity and mortality trial comparing the clinical efficacy and safety of torcetrapib/atorvastatin (Lipitor) versus atorvastatin alone was terminated in December 2006 due to an increased number of deaths in those patients taking torcetrapib/atorvastatin. It is important to note that the three imaging trials also failed to show a benefit of torcetrapib/atorvastatin when compared to atorvastatin alone and were consistent with the lack of efficacy that was observed.

Dr. Brewer noted, "The results obtained in the ILLUMINATE trial and the three imaging trials, while unexpected, do not reflect on the potential clinical benefit of raising HDL. Statin drugs have a proven clinical benefit in reducing heart attacks and stroke; however, the reduction in these clinical events is, at best, only approximately one third. A significant number of patien
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