( Statistically Significant Improvements ...)Sangamo BioSciences Announces Presentation of ZFP Therapeutic Data,From Nerve Regeneration Program at American Society for Neural,Therapy and Repair Meeting,Health

RICHMOND, Calif., May 03, 2007 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Sangamo BioSciences, Inc. announced today the presentation of preclinical data from its ZFP Therapeutic(TM) program in nerve regeneration at the Fourteenth Annual Conference of the American Society for Neural Therapy and Repair. The data generated, in a model of spinal cord injury (SCI), demonstrate that treatment of the spinal cord at the time of injury with a VEGF ZFP TF had a statistically significant effect on recovery of hind-limb function as well as a number of other measures of nerve integrity and health.

The work was carried out in the laboratory of Dr. Michael Fehlings who holds the Krembil Chair in Neural Repair and Regeneration at the Krembil Neuroscience Center, Toronto Western Hospital and the Division of Neurosurgery, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Dr. Fehlings is a Christopher Reeve Foundation Scientific Advisory Council member and a leading expert in the molecular mechanisms and treatment of SCI.

In collaboration with Dr. Fehlings and his colleagues, Sangamo is evaluating a zinc finger DNA-binding protein transcription factor (ZFP TF(TM)), designed to upregulate the expression of the gene encoding vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF-A) in spinal cord injury (SCI) models. In addition to its effects on angiogenesis or blood vessel growth, VEGF-A has been demonstrated to have direct neurotrophic and neuroprotective properties in several models that assess nerve integrity and health. In addition, Sangamo is currently developing SB-509, a plasmid formulation of this same ZFP TF, for the treatment of diabetic neuropathy and has two ongoing Phase 2 trials in this area.

Dr. Fehlings and his colleagues observed that administration of the ZFP TF into the spinal cord at the time of injury produce
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