AMRI Commences Drug Discovery Collaboration with CHDI

ALBANY, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--AMRI (NASDAQ:AMRI) and CHDI Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization pursuing drugs that delay or slow Huntington’s disease (HD), announced today the commencement of a new collaboration agreement focused on the discovery of new therapeutic agents for the treatment of this disease.

“Based on the potential success of this first phase, AMRI has the ability to provide lead optimization services including medicinal chemistry and in vitro metabolism, making for a fully integrated drug discovery project in terms of time, quality and efficient use of resources.”

Under this agreement, AMRI will test samples from its compound collection against several JNK kinases. These kinases may be implicated in the progression of HD. AMRI will use its expertise in computer-aided drug discovery (CADD), biological assay development and high throughput screening for this project.

“AMRI is pleased to have this opportunity to partner with CHDI in its efforts to mitigate the effects of Huntington’s disease. We look forward to leveraging our expertise in a broad spectrum of drug discovery services to develop potential treatments for this debilitating condition,” said Bruce Sargent, Ph.D., vice president, discovery research & development at AMRI. “Based on the potential success of this first phase, AMRI has the ability to provide lead optimization services including medicinal chemistry and in vitro metabolism, making for a fully integrated drug discovery project in terms of time, quality and efficient use of resources.”

“Collaborating strategically with companies like AMRI helps us manage our scientific activities more efficiently,” said Ignacio Muñoz-Sanjuan, vice president of biology at CHDI. “Access to AMRI’s compound library and lead optimization services may allow us to move confidently from biological research into translational and pre-clinical programs.”

About Huntington’s Disease

Huntington’s disease is a familial disease caused by a mutation in the huntingtin gene. Each child of a person with a mutation in the huntingtin gene has a 50-50 chance of inheriting the mutation. As a result of carrying the mutation, an individual’s brain cells fail and die leading to cognitive and physical impairments that, over the course of the disease, significantly impair the individual’s quality of life and ultimately causes death. Symptoms of Huntington’s disease, which generally develop in midlife and become progressively more debilitating, can also develop in infancy or old age. Once overt symptoms start, patients live for about 15 to 20 years. One person in 10,000 is believed to carry a mutation in the huntingtin gene. There is currently no way to delay the onset of symptoms or slow the progression of Huntington’s disease.

About CHDI Foundation, Inc.

CHDI is a non-profit organization with a mission to rapidly discover and develop drugs that delay or slow Huntington’s disease. CHDI supports an international network of research laboratories from academia and industry pursuing novel therapies for the treatment of Huntington’s disease. As a collaborative enabler, CHDI seeks to bring the right partners together to identify and address critical scientific issues and move drug candidates to clinical evaluation as quickly as possible. More information about CHDI can be found at www.chdifoundation.org.

About AMRI

Founded in 1991, AMRI provides scientific services, products and technologies focused on improving the quality of life. AMRI works on drug discovery and development projects and conducts manufacturing of active ingredients and pharmaceutical intermediates for many of the world’s leading healthcare companies. As an additional value added service to its customers, the company is also investing in R&D in order to expand it contract services and to identify novel early stage drug candidates with the goal to outlicense to a strategic partner. With locations in the U.S., Europe, and Asia, AMRI provides customers with a wide range of services, technologies and cost models.

AMRI Forward-Looking Statement

Statements in this press release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that involve risks and uncertainties. These statements may be identified by forward-looking words such as “may,” “could,” “should,” “would,” “will,” “intend,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “believe” and “continue” or similar words. Readers should not place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements. The company’s actual results may differ materially from such forward-looking statements as a result of numerous factors, some of which the company may not be able to predict and may not be within the company’s control. Factors that could cause such differences include, but are not limited to (a) the company’s performance under the collaboration with CHDI; (b) successful results in the performance of the services; (c) CHDI’s continuous utilization of the company’s services at levels set forth in the contract; (d) CHDI’s continued pursuit of programs under which the company provides services, as well as those factors discussed in the company’s Annual Report on Form 10_K for the year ended December 31, 2008 as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 13, 2009 and the company’s other SEC filings. The company does not undertake any duty to and does not intend to update any forward-looking statements contained in this press release after the date of this press release.