ERGONEX Pharma receives Frost & Sullivan's European Orphan Diseases Entrepreneurial Company Award 2009

Appenzell, Switzerland, October 19, 2009 / b3c newswire / - ERGONEX Pharma received one of the prestigious ‘European Orphan Diseases Entrepreneurial Company Award’ on the occasion of Frost & Sullivan's '2009 Excellence in Healthcare Awards Banquet,' held in London on 8th October 2009. The highly competitive award was presented to ERGONEX Pharma in recognition of the company's innovative therapeutic concept, its impressive display of technological know-how and targeted vision.

ERGONEX Pharma is focused on the clinical development and commercialisation of Terguride for the treatment of distinct orphan diseases. Terguride is currently being evaluated for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) in a Phase II trial in Europe and headline results are expected in 2010.

Dr. Rudolf Reiter, CEO of ERGONEX Pharma comments: "This award comes at an exciting and challenging time for ERGONEX Pharma. I see it as recognition of the vision, the commitment and work of the company, which would not have been possible without the continued support, expertise and out-of-the-box thinking of our partners in the on-going clinical trial. We believe that Terguride has the potential to contribute a new quality to emerging combination therapies for patients, who do not tolerate, have become resistant to or are insufficiently controlled by current treatment options in PAH.”

The Frost & Sullivan Healthcare Awards Banquet honours Europe's best healthcare companies for their achievements over the course of this year. Frost & Sullivan's highly competitive awards recognise companies in a variety of regional and global markets for demonstrating outstanding achievement and superior performance in areas such as leadership, technological innovation, customer service, and strategic product development.

About Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension
Pulmonary arterial hypertension is a disorder of the blood vessels in the lung, in which the pressure in large blood vessel rises above normal. Walls of the blood vessels are thickened and hardened, becoming less elastic. Hence, the decrease in lumen leads to increases in pressure. Patients with PAH suffer from extreme shortness of breath as the heart struggles to pump against these high pressures causing such patients to ultimately die of heart failure.

About Terguride
Terguride acts as a potent antagonist on 5-HT_2B and 5-HT_2A receptors: It has anti-proliferative and anti-fibrotic activities and drives reverse remodelling processes. Serotonin is a signal molecule in the body with many functions. In the blood vessel walls of the lung, it stimulates proliferation of smooth muscle cells and narrowing of the blood vessels, which has been implicated in PAH. Furthermore, trophic effects of serotonin on the heart contribute to right heart hypertrophy and progression towards heart failure. Terguride is approved in Japan for hyperprolactinemia acting as a partial dopamine agonist on the pituitary gland.

About ERGONEX Pharma - www.ergonex.com
ERGONEX Pharma is a pharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercialising well-tolerated and effective products for novel and typically underserved indications. This is being achieved by forging collaborations with commercial and academic partners with expertise in the field of interest and through outsourcing activities to service providers.

Contact
ERGONEX Pharma GmbH
Ruetistr. 20
CH-9050 Appenzell
Switzerland
Phone: +41 71 788 4065
E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
www.ergonex.com