Advinus Therapeutics and P2D Bioscience Enter Into a Research and Development Collaboration for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

CINCINNATI, OH and BANGALORE, INDIA--(Marketwire - Jul 24, 2012) -  Advinus Therapeutics Ltd., a drug discovery and development company, and P2D Bioscience, a CNS-focused specialty pharmaceutical company, announced today the initiation of a research and development collaboration to develop therapies for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

ADHD is the most commonly diagnosed psychiatric disorder in children, with symptoms continuing into adulthood in up to 50% of cases. Recent estimates show that approximately 4.7 percent of American adults live with ADHD. These estimates worldwide are influenced by diagnostic tools as evidenced by the apparent prevalence rate in the U.S. growing from 12 per 1,000 children in the 1970s to 34 per 1,000 in the 1990s.

Timely diagnosis and treatment of ADHD results in the significant reduction in clinical symptoms; however, not all individuals respond to current ADHD medications. Further, current ADHD medications have significant side effects. P2D and Advinus are co-developing a new class of ADHD treatments. These drugs demonstrate increased efficacy due to their higher affinity for the target receptor, as well as improved safety due to enhanced selectivity.

"Academic institutions and their spinoff biotech companies are beginning to play an increasingly important role in discovering innovative drug candidates and at the same time will continue to depend on partners to develop these assets. The P2D ADHD program is a classical example of value Advinus provides to such institutions and benefits it derives from such collaborations. We are delighted to establish this exemplary and synergistic relationship with P2D," said Dr. Rashmi Barbhaiya, CEO and MD of Advinus.

"P2D has been active in partnering with Indian pharmaceutical development companies for the past several years," said Dr. Frank Zemlan, CEO and Chairman of P2D Bioscience. "Advinus was identified by our Indian-based team as the premier pre-clinical and early-stage clinical development company in southeast Asia. P2D partnered with Advinus because of their drug development expertise and experience. We are honored to be selected as one of Advinus' drug development partners for their risk/reward sharing program, which has accelerated the development of our early stage drug candidates."

About Advinus
Advinus Therapeutics is a privately held research-based pharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of proprietary new medicines for metabolic and inflammatory diseases. The company has been promoted by the TATA group, India's largest and most respected business house and led by executives with extensive international experience in pharmaceutical R&D. Advinus is the first of its kind in India to offer end to end pre-clinical and early clinical development services to the global pharmaceutical and biotech industry while creating long term value through internal and collaborative drug discovery. The Discovery unit located in Pune is fully integrated from hit to preclinical candidate. Advinus Development in Bangalore offers an integrated service platform for process chemistry, DMPK, clinical pharmacology, safety assessment, analytical R&D, bioanalytical and formulation development. For company information, visit Advinus at www.advinus.com

About P2D
P2D Bioscience is a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on developing innovating drugs that fulfill unmet medical needs in the treatment of central nervous system and pulmonary disorders. At P2D, our experienced drug development team utilizes our in-depth understanding of the clinical treatment of CNS disorders and neurodegenerative diseases to efficiently build a product portfolio of therapeutics with an improved likelihood for clinical success. Our goal is to advance a product candidate through preclinical development and clinical proof-of-concept by producing powerful and compelling clinical data and then seeking partners to complete the clinical development and commercialization process. For company information, visit P2D at www.p2dinc.com