For more information, contact: Judy Curtis Media and Public Relations 254-724-4097 jcurtis@swmail.sw.org FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 25, 2008

Scott & White launches one-of-a-kind research trial for cancer agent

- "Exploding" drug targets T-Cell Lymphoma -

TEMPLE, TEXAS (June 25, 2008) - Scott & White's Cancer Research Institute (CRI) announced the launch of the first clinical trials on humans of an agent that targets Cutaneous T-cell Lymphoma.

While rare, Cutaneous T-Cell Lymphoma nevertheless afflicts some 6,000 Americans each year.

This study of the agent called A-dmDT390-bisFV is aimed at those patients who have not responded to existing treatments," said Art Frankel, M.D. and director of Scott & White's Cancer Research Institute. "Our research focuses on a niche for rare disease that no one else is going after."

The Phase I Clinical trial seeks to determine the highest dose and the best way to administer this investigational agent without serious side effects. An investigational agent is one that has not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

"While there is no guarantee that the subject in a trial will be cured, there is every reason to believe they could help themselves, and undoubtedly down the road they will help others with the same disease."

In addition, if the agent proves effective, Frankel believes it may extend to the treatment of diabetes, multiple sclerosis and Lupus.

Clinical trials are critical to the development of new drugs, involving years of research and testing before the drugs, or agents, can be used in humans.

Frankel, a pioneer in the use of deadly bacterial toxins to kill specific cancer molecules, says the drug works like a missile that will only hit its intended target. "It attaches and explodes into the T-Cell," says Frankel. The "bomb" is a toxic mixture containing diphtheria, which was re-engineered by Frankel and his team to kill only the tumor.

The fact that Scott & White's relatively new Cancer Research Institute was chosen to test the A-dmDT390-bisFV fusion protein is significant.

"The Scott & White CRI is unique because the clinicians who run new drug trials work together under the same roof with the scientists who developed the drug and tested the drug for FDA approval," says David M. Neville, Jr., M.D. Chief, Section on Biophysical Chemistry, Laboratory of Molecular Biology at the National Institute of Mental Health, and who commissioned Scott & White to develop and test.

Scott & White's ability to take a drug from the bench, or laboratory to the bedside, or patient, is a boon to cancer treatment, he said.

"The constant interplay between scientists and clinicians leads to better trial designs and the flexibility to suggest alterations in trial protocols before trial completion, benefiting both patients and researchers" said Neville.

For more information on enrolling in this clinical trial, contact Katherine Schueller, Clinical Trials Marketing Manager at 512.672.9168

The Cancer Research Institute at Scott & White was established in 2005 to bring new cancer-fighting therapies from the laboratory bench to the patient's bedside in less time than it takes using traditional processes. The institute is housed in 17,000 square feet within Temple's Health and Bioscience District, and includes laboratories and a Good Manufacturing Practices drug manufacturing facility. The 37 scientists who comprise the CRI staff are devoted to finding effective therapies for various and rare forms of cancer quickly and cost-effectively

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