Dr. B. T. Zhu, Professor of Pharmacology, Toxicology and Therapeutics atthe University of Kansas, has demonstrated that estriol has strongimmunomodulating effects versus other estrogens through its ability toreduce the risk of developing antibody-mediated immune attacks. Theseresults are detailed in a peer reviewed scientific journal articleentitled, "Unique effect of the pregnancy hormone estriol onantigen-induced production of specific antibodies in female BALB/c mice,"contained within the March 2008 issue of the scientific journal Steroids,73(3):289-98.

Dr. Zhu commented, "We are pleased to have entered into this agreement withAdeona. Our research, along with that of Dr. Voskuhl, has clearlydifferentiated estriol from other estrogens, such as estradiol. We lookforward to seeing additional results on the effectiveness of estriol fromthe ongoing immunomodulating preclinical studies."

James Baxendale, Executive Director of the University of Kansas Center forTechnology Commercialization commented, "Collaborating with industrialpartners such as Adeona is key to the transfer of our intellectual propertyinto the private sector. We have been impressed with Adeona'scollaborative efforts for TRIMESTA and its advanced stages of development."

Nicholas Stergis, Adeona's Chief Executive Officer commented, "Thisexpansion of our intellectual property through collaborative universitybased relationships complements our existing issued patent estate forTRIMESTA, which has been exclusively licensed from UCLA. Dr. Zhu's workmay help to expand the utility of TRIMESTA into other autoimmune diseases."

TRIMESTA is the subject of an ongoing multi-center, double-blind,placebo-controlled 150-patient phase IIb clinical trial for the treatmentof relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis (MS) which is being funded by a$5 million grant from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society (NMSS) inpartnership with the National MS Society's Southern California chapter,with support from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). For furtherinformation on this clinical trial, please visit www.clinicaltrial.gov.

About TRIMESTA

TRIMESTA is an orally active, immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatorymolecule which has been approved and marketed throughout Europe and Asiafor approximately 40 years for the treatment of post-menopausal hotflashes, but which has never been introduced in North America. Estriol,the active ingredient in TRIMESTA, is a weak estrogenic-based molecule thatis produced in the placenta by women during pregnancy. Estriol isconsidered to play an important role in the immunologic privilege offeredto the fetus during pregnancy, and is also thought to be responsible forthe spontaneous remission of Th1-mediated autoimmune diseases of women(such as multiple sclerosis, psoriasis and rheumatoid arthritis) duringpregnancy, especially during the third trimester. Adeona has an exclusiveworldwide license with UCLA (through the Regents of the University ofCalifornia, Los Angeles) to the intellectual property rights surroundingTRIMESTA for which Dr. Voskuhl is an inventor.

Pregnancy and MS

Doctors have known for decades that women often experience a sharp drop inMS disease symptoms during the course of pregnancy, specifically in thethird trimester when the levels of estriol is being produced at theirhighest level by the placenta. The list of autoimmune diseases thatimprove during pregnancy includes multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis,thyroiditis, uveitis, juvenile rheumatoid arthirits, ankylosing spondylitiswith peripheral arthritis and psoriatic arthritis.

A landmark clinical study published in the New England Journal of Medicine,known as the PRIMS study (Pregnancy in Multiple Sclerosis) followed 254women with MS during 269 pregnancies and for up to one year after delivery.The PRIMS study demonstrated that relapse rates were significantly reducedby 71 percent (p < 0.001) through the third trimester of pregnancy frompre-baseline levels and relapse rates then increased by 120 percent (p