New Analytical Chiral Column Achieves Previously Unattainable Separations for Small Molecules

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 19, 2006--

Nanotech Company Introduces at HPLC 2006 the First Scalable Product to Accelerate Chiral Drug Discovery Process

“Small chiral molecules form the building blocks of many of today's most promising therapies, and yet are often very difficult or even impossible to separate when they fall below 200 molecular weight using conventional chiral HPLC columns”

Evolved Nanomaterial Sciences (ENS), a Cambridge-based company that uses patented nanotechnology to revolutionize the chiral drug development process, announced today the release of a new normal phase analytical chiral column that achieves previously unattainable separations for small molecules.

"Small chiral molecules form the building blocks of many of today's most promising therapies, and yet are often very difficult or even impossible to separate when they fall below 200 molecular weight using conventional chiral HPLC columns," said ENS CEO Robert Pucciariello. "Utilizing a patented nanotechnology, the ENS Analytical NP Chiral Column (4.6 x 250 mm) has demonstrated superior performance on low molecular weight compounds across a broad range of molecular families. Moreover, ENS' technology scales to manufacture without changing method development, dramatically speeding up and simplifying the drug development process."

Unlike current analytical HPLC columns, which can be time-consuming and frustrating to use, ENS' chiral column is highly effective at separating a broad spectrum of chiral chemical compounds, including both large and small molecules. An ENS Analytical NP Chiral Column can separate chiral alcohols, free amines, terpenes, alkaloids, and amino acid derivatives. A number of compounds within these classes, as well as entire classes such as small alcohols and hydrocarbons, are very difficult to separate employing conventional chiral column technology.

Chiral separation is a process by which scientists, particularly in drug development and clinical trials, separate mirror-image molecules: one of which is often therapeutic or beneficial; the other of which can produce unwanted side effects. Chiral separation is an often costly, tedious process that slows down the discovery process and adds significant time and cost to the development and production of important new drugs. Most of the top selling drugs in the world are chiral-based, including Lipitor(R), Zocor(R), Advair(R), Norvasc(R), Viagra(R) as well as 90 percent of all drugs in development .

The ENS Analytical NP Chiral Column is the first of several new column releases scheduled for 2006, according to Pucciariello. The company's patented nanotechnology easily scales to semi-prep and prep to process scale, dramatically reducing the need for new method development.

ENS' Analytical NP Chiral Column, and the patented nanotechnology behind it, will be exhibited to more than 2,000 scientific professionals at HPLC 2006 - The 30th International Symposium & Exhibit on High Performance Liquid Separations and Related Techniques (booth 204) at the San Francisco Marriott Hotel, this week.

About Evolved Nanomaterial Sciences (ENS)

Headquartered in Cambridge, MA, ENS utilizes patented nanotechnology to enable previously unattainable molecular separations, offering unprecedented selectivity -- dramatically simplifying and speeding up the drug discovery and scale-up process. ENS' web site is www.ensnano.com.