Press Release

Novogen's NV-128, a Novel mTOR Inhibitor, Shows Potential Activity Against Cancer Stem Cells

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Posted 01 December 2008 @ 08:10 am ET

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA and NEW CANAAN, CT -- (Marketwire) -- 12/01/08 -- Pharmaceutical companyNovogen Limited (NASDAQ: NVGN) (ASX: NRT) today announced that workperformed in collaboration with a Yale University research team led byAssociate Professor Gil Mor, MD, PhD, has revealed its novel mTOR inhibitorNV-128 has the potential to act against cancer stem cells in addition torapidly proliferating cells in established solid tumors.

"Yale's research team is finding that NV-128 has a high level of potencyagainst cancer stem cells," said Dr. Gil Mor. "In fact, of theinvestigational therapies Yale has tried, NV-128 is one of the mostexciting to us."

Published research indicates that mTOR pathways, in addition to theirinvolvement in maintaining survival among rapidly dividing cells inestablished tumors, also guarantee survival in cancer stem cells.(1)Cancer stem cells are slowly dividing undifferentiated cells with capacityto regenerate tumors rapidly after their surgical or chemical removal.These cells are now becoming recognized as the underlying mechanism bywhich tumors recur and metastasize after primary treatment. As such theyrepresent a promising target by which improved cancer control may beachieved.

NV-128 has been shown to function as a potent inhibitor of the mTOR pathwayand therefore has the potential to be effective against cancer stem cells.Novogen is now aligning its research priorities for NV-128, and otherrelated pipeline compounds, to look specifically at their activity incancer stem cells. This presents a unique opportunity to develop NV-128,and other potential derivatives, not only for use as a therapeutic agent inestablished cancers, but also to target the stem cells which lead to cancerrecurrence.

At last year's annual meeting of the American Association for CancerResearch, a presentation by one of the Yale team, Associate Research FellowAyesha Alvero, MD, showed in animal studies that NV-128 not onlysignificantly retards tumor proliferation, but is more efficacious thanother standard of care drugs, and without apparent toxicity. This effectwas shown to be due to caspase-independent pathways involving inhibition ofthe mTOR pathway. But unlike analogues of rapamycin, like temsirolimus andeverolimus, which target only mTORC1, NV-128's capacity to dephosphorylatemTOR enables it to inhibit both mTORC1 and mTORC2 activity. This blocksgrowth factor driven activation of AKT and the potential for development ofchemoresistance.

Structurally, NV-128 is an analogue of triphendiol and phenoxodiol, both ofwhich are investigational drugs that have been licensed by Novogen toMarshall Edwards, Inc. Phenoxodiol is currently in a multinational,multi-center Phase III clinical trial for patients with late stage ovariancancer (see www.OVATUREtrial.com ). Triphendiol has recently been grantedorphan drug status by the FDA for pancreatic and bile duct cancers, andlate stage melanoma.

About NV-128:

In contrast to phenoxodiol and triphendiol, NV-128 has been shown to inducecaspase-independent DNA degradation and cancer cell death. It appears thatin conjunction with autophagy induction, NV-128 induces caspase independentcell death via the AKT-mTOR pathway resulting in beclin sequestration ofBcl-2, Bax up-regulation and mitochondrial depolarization. As aconsequence, endonuclease G translocates to the nucleus where it initiatesDNA degradation and cell death. This offers an opportunity for use as amonotherapy in chemoresistant cancers and enhanced efficacy against cancertargets less susceptible to phenoxodiol. The option for co-administrationof combinations of these drugs is also under investigation to extend thepotential therapeutic range of this unique class of oncology compounds.

About Novogen Limited:

Novogen Limited (NASDAQ: NVGN) is an Australian biotechnology company thathas patented isoflavone technology for the treatment and prevention ofdegenerative diseases and disorders. Over the past ten years, Novogen hasconducted the largest and most comprehensive isoflavone clinical testingprograms in the world. Novogen is involved in drug discovery and productdevelopment for disorders that are commonly associated with aging andcoordinates an international clinical research and development program withexternal collaborators, hospitals and universities. For more information,visit www.novogen.com.

Under U.S. law, a new drug cannot be marketed until it has beeninvestigated in clinical trials and approved by the FDA as being safe andeffective for the intended use. Statements included in this press releasethat are not historical in nature are "forward-looking statements" withinthe meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private SecuritiesLitigation Reform Act of 1995. You should be aware that our actual resultscould differ materially from those contained in the forward-lookingstatements, which are based on management's current expectations and aresubject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including, but not limitedto, our failure to successfully commercialize our product candidates; costsand delays in the development and/or FDA approval, or the failure to obtainsuch approval, of our product candidates; uncertainties in clinical trialresults; our inability to maintain or enter into, and the risks resultingfrom our dependence upon, collaboration or contractual arrangementsnecessary for the development, manufacture, commercialization, marketing,sales and distribution of any products; competitive factors; our inabilityto protect our patents or proprietary rights and obtain necessary rights tothird arty patents and intellectual property to operate our business; ourinability to operate our business without infringing the patents andproprietary rights of others; general economic conditions; the failure ofany products to gain market acceptance; our inability to obtain anyadditional required financing; technological changes; governmentregulation; changes in industry practice; and one-time events. We do notintend to update any of these factors or to publicly announce the resultsof any revisions to these forward-looking statements.

(1) Nature Reviews - Cancer 2008 Oct;8(10):755-68. Epub 2008 Sep 11

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Contact:Warren Lancaster+1-203-966-2556 (USA)Email ContactAlan Husband+61 2 9878 0088 (Australia)Email Contact


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