Court Rules Against University Of Texas M.D. Anderson's Motion To Dismiss On Various Issues Xechem International Pursues Its Rights'

ARCHIVED 2002–2016: Originally distributed via the eWire press wire service. Preserved as historical record.

Court Rules Against University Of Texas M.D. Anderson's Motion To Dismiss On Various Issues

Xechem International Pursues Its Rights'

SUBSCRIBE/UNSUBSCRIBE |

Conservation & Wildlife

Corporate Responsibility

Science & Technology

Syndication Partners

**************************************************************************

E-WIRE PRESS RELEASE E-WIRE PRESS RELEASE E-WIRE PRESS RELEASE

**************************************************************************

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Court Rules Against University Of Texas M.D. Anderson's Motion To Dismiss On Various Issues

Xechem International Pursues Its Rights'

NEW JERSEY, NEW BRUNSWICK, Mar. 6 -/E-Wire/-- Xechem International, Inc. (OTC BB: ZKEM) today announced that on February 21, 2002, a federal district court judge of the U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey denied University of Texas' motion to dismiss the case for lack of personal jurisdiction and venue and to grant the defendant's motion to transfer the case to the Southern District of Texas (CA No.: 00-1010). The judge did not rule on the defendents' motion to dismiss the suit based on 11th amendment state sovereign immunity and lack of declaratory judgment jurisdiction.

In this case, Xechem International was pressed to initiate legal action against the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and Board of Regents of the University of Texas System (MDA/UT) to correct inventorship and ownership of U.S. Patent No. 5,877,205 and related patents for a new Cremophor®-free formulation of paclitaxel, an anti-cancer drug with over two (2) billion dollas in sales, for a breach of an exclusive license agreement and related causes of action.

According to Xechem's President & CEO, Dr. Ramesh Pandey, "We strongly prefer to avoid lawsuits, however, we were unable to resolve our differences with MDA/UT, and therefore had no choice but to initiate the suit in 2001 to protect our property rights. We feel our position is strong, our actions justified, and we shall pursue this case to its conclusion."

The patented new formulation of paclitaxel completely eliminates the conventionally used carrier, polyoxyethylated castor oil, a suspected carcinogen, sold under the name Cremophor® EL that is used in the current FDA approved generic formulation, and instead uses the excipient, N, N-dimethylacetamide (DMA) as a carrier. DMA is used as an excipient in the FDA-approved formulation for the cancer drug, teniposide. The new formulation is thought to be a candidate for an alternative to the generic formulation in the two billion plus dollar paclitaxel market.

Xechem has positioned itself to be a major supplier of paclitaxel with resources and capacity for large quantities of the rare and valuable natural product necessary for production of the anti-cancer drug through its Indian subsidiary and other Asian sources. Xechem is preparing to file an Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) for FDA approval of its own generic paclitaxel formulation to compete with other generic manufacturers, i.e., Bristol-Myers Squibb's TAXOL® brand and Ivax Corporation's generic version. Xechem has several other paclitaxel analog formulations called "next generation compounds" under development to add to its product portfolio, some of which may be covered by the 205 patent and related patents throughout the world.

Xechem International, Inc., headquartered in New Brunswick, NJ, with subsidiary companies in USA, India and other international partners, is a biopharmaceutical company of which Xechem, Inc. (a US subsidiary) is engaged in the research, development and production of generic and proprietary drugs from natural sources, specializing in the development of niche-generic, difficult to replicate anticancer, antiviral (including Human Immuno-deficiency Virus, HIV) and antifungal compounds. The Company also screens extracts and pure compounds from various parts of the world including China and India for their therapeutic use. (See press release of February 14, 2001)

XetaPharm(TM) (another U.S. subsidiary) develops quality controlled nutritional products such as GinkgoOnce®, GinsengOnce®, GarlicOnce®, Gugulon, and Co-Enzyme(TM) Q-10 and numerous products that are under development. (www.xetapharm.com)

This and past press releases of Xechem International, Inc. are available at Xechem's web site at www.xechem.com.

For further information, contact Dr. Ramesh C. Pandey, President and CEO or John P. Luther, Esq., Vice President & General Counsel,. at (732) 247 - 3300.

This news release may contain certain forward-looking statements relating to Xechem's future business performance within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, which are intended to be covered by safe harbors created hereby. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, including the ability of the Companies to successfully develop and commercialize their technologies, and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Companies to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements of the Companies expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.

Xechem International, Inc.

Dr. Ramesh C. Pandey, President and CEO

John P. Luther, Esq., Vice President & General Counsel,. at (732) 247 - 3300

http://www.xechem.com

**************************************************************************

To Transmit Your News Over E-Wire, visit http://www.ewire.com or

call 1-[REDACTED-PHONE]. E-Wire Is Broadcast To Millions Of Readers Worldwide

**************************************************************************

1993 - 2003. All Rights Reserved.