Drs. Hani Sabbah, David Brown, Sharon Hale and Robert Kloner Present Bendavia Research At 2012 American Heart Association Annual Meeting

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Stealth Peptides Inc. (Stealth) reported today on promising Bendavia™ findings presented by leading cardiovascular researchers at the American Heart Association’s (AHA) annual meeting. The researchers, including Drs. Hani Sabbah, David Brown, Sharon Hale and Robert Kloner reported on several recent studies showing Bendavia’s ability to preserve cardiac function and viable myocardium in heart failure and cardiovascular disease models. Stealth is a privately held biopharmaceutical company developing innovative mitochondrial therapies for diseases with unmet medical needs. Bendavia is a novel compound that targets the mitochondrion to treat mitochondrial dysfunction along the continuum of cardiovascular disease. AHA is a U.S. nonprofit organization that focuses on cardiac care worldwide with a goal of reducing morbidity and mortality caused by cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death in developed countries. The 2012 AHA annual meeting was held November 3rd through 7th in Los Angeles, and centered on state of the art scientific advances for cardiovascular medicine and biology.

These top researchers presented findings with Bendavia from multiple studies of heart failure and cardiac reperfusion injury. Previously, Bendavia was shown to reduce the area of cardiac microvascular dysfunction associated with the “no–reflow” phenomenon. The no–reflow phenomenon, in which epicardial blood flow is restored but structural damage to the heart’s microvasculature prevents restoration of normal blood flow to cardiomyocytes, was originally described by Dr. Kloner more than three decades ago and has more recently been shown to be an independent determinant of mortality and morbidity of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) patients. The findings presented at AHA highlighted Bendavia’s cardioprotective effects and its potential to reduce cardiac dysfunction and compromised performance in several animal models. The researchers concluded that Bendavia improved cardiac performance without changing heart rate or blood pressure, and protected the myocardium when given after ischemia but prior to reperfusion, making Bendavia an attractive candidate for clinical studies in cardiovascular disease.

Dr. Hani Sabbah further noted, “Bendavia offers a completely innovative approach to treating heart failure by improving mitochondrial energetics in the energy starved heart. Given Bendavia’s unique mechanism of action and its ability to consistently improve left ventricular performance on par with presently approved drugs, but without impacting heart rate or blood pressure, it has the potential to be additive to current standard-of-care therapies in heart failure.”

Standard animal models for both acute and chronic cardiovascular diseases have demonstrated Bendavia’s cardioprotective effects and confirm the significance of its novel mechanism of action, which preserves mitochondrial function under multiple pathological conditions. Contrary to prior therapeutic strategies in cardiology that focused on uni–targeted pathways, Bendavia and its mitochondria–targeted actions address the more complicated, multifactorial nature of diseases. Specifically, Bendavia maintains electron transport efficiency, mitochondrial respiration and adenosine triphosphate levels, while preventing mitochondrial swelling and depolarization. Bendavia may also hold promise as a treatment for acute and chronic kidney diseases.

Stealth’s CEO, Travis Wilson, remarked, “Stealth is excited about the findings by these leading researchers and Bendavia’s potential for treating the growing prevalence of cardiovascular disease worldwide. Based on several of our clinical studies with Bendavia and encouraging acute and chronic preclinical data along the continuum of cardiovascular disease and its complications, we feel that Bendavia has the potential to be a significant advancement to the treatment of cardio–renal and metabolic disorders.”

Currently, Stealth has initiated enrollment in a Phase II acute kidney injury clinical study to assess the effectiveness of Bendavia on improving renal function affected by hypertension, severe unilateral renal artery stenosis and angioplasty. Stealth is also enrolling a multinational Phase II cardiac clinical study with Bendavia focused on ischemia reperfusion and microvascular injuries including the extent of “no-reflow” for patients experiencing acute ST–segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). Stealth’s Phase II cardiac study is termed EMBRACE–STEMI™ for the Evaluation of the Myocardial effects of Bendavia for reducing Reperfusion injury in patients with Acute Coronary Events.

About Stealth Peptides

Stealth is a privately held biopharmaceutical company developing innovative mitochondrial therapies for diseases with unmet medical needs. Stealth has a rich and promising pipeline of preclinical and clinical compounds from a unique class of short peptides (500–700 Daltons each) that target mitochondria. Published, peer–reviewed data for these compounds suggest significant in vitro and in vivo efficacy for metabolic, ophthalmologic, neurologic and cardio–renal related disorders. The intellectual property portfolio around these compounds is exceptionally robust with compositions, including Bendavia, protectable by patent until 2031.

More information regarding Stealth and Bendavia is available at www.stealthpeptides.com.