CYTRX TO CONDUCT FURTHER STROKE-RECOVERY RESEARCH WITH ARIMOCLOMOL

CytRx has announced plans to initiate additional animal stroke-recovery studies with its lead oral drug candidate arimoclomol, currently being evaluated as a therapeutic for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. The animal studies are expected to begin in the first quarter of 2007, and CytRx anticipates that results of the studies will be announced in the second quarter of 2007.

In November the company presented data demonstrating that arimoclomol improved the functional recovery of motor skills in an experimental rat model of stroke. In addition, arimoclomol has been found to be able to cross the human blood-brain barrier, an important attribute for a potential stroke-recovery therapeutic.

In the recently completed rat study, stroke was induced by blocking blood flow to parts of the brain causing cerebral oxygen deprivation. A subgroup of the study rats were then dosed orally with arimoclomol daily for 28 days, beginning one hour after stroke was induced. Recovery from stroke was measured by monitoring sensory motor skills. While motor skills declined dramatically in all study rats, those treated with arimoclomol recovered faster and more completely than those untreated. In one functional capacity test, arimoclomol-treated animals were completely restored to normal non-stroke levels, indicating a complete recovery using this particular measurement of stroke.

Arimoclomol is believed to function by stimulating a normal cellular protein repair pathway through the activation of "molecular chaperones." Since damaged proteins called aggregates are thought to play a role in many diseases, CytRx believes that activation of molecular chaperones could have therapeutic efficacy for a broad range of diseases.