Lixte Biotechnology Receives US Patent for Its Proprietary Histone Deacetylase Inhibitor

EAST SETAUKET, N.Y., April 4, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Lixte Biotechnology Holdings, Inc. announced receiving an official notice of allowance from the United States Patent and Trademark Office for its lead histone deacetylase inhibitor (HDACi), LB-201 and other structural homologs.

Dr. John Kovach, founder and president of Lixte, said, "Although there are HDACi approved for certain types of skin lymphomas and many other HDACi in various stages of development, our compounds have characteristics which may be advantageous for clinical use.  The Lixte compounds also have broad anti-cancer activity but in addition have 1) potential for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, for which Lixte recently announced a USPTO patent approval, 2) activity (LB-205) against the lysosomal storage disease, Gaucher Disease, as recently reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, USA (Dec. 27 2011; 108:21200-5) and 3) curative anti-fungal activity applied topically (LB-201) against the most common skin fungal infections of humans and domestic animals in guinea pig models. As Lixte is predominantly focused on cancer treatment, it is seeking to license the non-neoplastic activities of its proprietary HDACi."

Dr. Kovach continued, "Lixte's primary goal at present is bringing its lead anti-cancer compound, LB-100, into Phase I trial.  We believe this inhibitor of serine/threonine phosphatase has the potential to be first-in-class and to have wide applicability for the treatment of diverse cancers.  LB-100 has completed pre-clinical toxicology and formulation with an anticipated IND submission for FDA approval of a Phase I trial this spring."

About Lixte Biotechnology Holdings, Inc.

Lixte is a cancer drug discovery company, combining selection of novel targets from the medicinal chemistry and molecular biology literature with innovative synthetic chemistry to develop new potentially more effective anti-cancer drugs. It has lead compounds in two classes of drugs, protein phosphatases and novel HDACi for which US patent were recently issued, with world-wide patent applications pending.

Forward-Looking Statements

This announcement contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. For example, statements regarding the Company's financial position, business strategy and other plans and objectives for future operations, and assumptions and predictions about future product demand, supply, manufacturing, costs, marketing and pricing factors are all forward-looking statements. These statements are generally accompanied by words such as "intend," anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "potential(ly)," "continue," "forecast," "predict," "plan," "may," "will," "could," "would," "should," "expect" or the negative of such terms or other comparable terminology. The Company believes that the assumptions and expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, based on information available to it on the date hereof, but the Company cannot provide assurances that these assumptions and expectations will prove to have been correct or that the Company will take any action that the Company may presently be planning. However, these forward-looking statements are inherently subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Actual results or experience may differ materially from those expected or anticipated in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, regulatory policies, available cash, research results, competition from other similar businesses, and market and general economic factors. This discussion should be read in conjunction with the condensed consolidated financial statements and notes thereto in the SEC Report on Form 10-QSB for the quarter ending September 30, 2011.

For additional information, please see:  www.Lixte.com

SOURCE Lixte Biotechnology Holdings, Inc.