One of the major problems, with the diagnosis and treatment of neurological diseases, is the inability of physicians to determine the onset of diseases, such as, Alzheimer's disease. Neurosteroids are steroids made locally in the brain and involved in critical brain functions. The most abundant neurosteroid is DHEA (dehydroepiandrosterone). In this invention, the mechanism underlying DHEA's synthesis is used to monitor changes in brain functions linked to Alzheimer's disease pathology. In response to a chemical treatment, a clinician can identify changes in blood DHEA levels and it gives the clinician the ability to detect oxidative stress in the brain before symptoms appear, thus, giving physicians an early warning of Alzheimer's and the ability to proactively treat most neurodegenerative diseases, before they become debilitating to patients.

Samaritan Pharma: Early Stage Alzheimer's Disease Diagnostic Patent Issued in Australia Tuesday May 29, 2007, 11:07 am ET Return to Homepage | See All News

Samaritan Pharmaceuticals Inc. (OTC BB:SPHC.OB), a developer of innovative drugs, announced today it has received a notice that the Australian patent application No. 31142/01, Title: Neurosteroids as Markers for Alzheimer's disease, has been issued. One of the major problems, with the diagnosis and treatment of neurological diseases, is the inability of physicians to determine the onset of diseases, such as, Alzheimer's disease. Neurosteroids are steroids made locally in the brain and involved in critical brain functions. The most abundant neurosteroid is DHEA (dehydroepiandrosterone). In this invention, the mechanism underlying DHEA's synthesis is used to monitor changes in brain functions linked to Alzheimer's disease pathology. In response to a chemical treatment, a clinician can identify changes in blood DHEA levels and it gives the clinician the ability to detect oxidative stress in the brain before symptoms appear, thus, giving physicians an early warning of Alzheimer's and the ability to proactively treat most neurodegenerative diseases, before they become debilitating to patients.

In response to a chemical treatment, a clinician can identify changes in blood DHEA levels and it gives the clinician the ability to detect oxidative stress in the brain before symptoms appear, thus, giving physicians an early warning of Alzheimer's and the ability to proactively treat most neurodegenerative diseases, before they become debilitating to patients.

Currently, this is done by a combination of MRI scans, to look for generalized shrinkage of the brain and cognitive tests to determine a patient's state of dementia. Typically physical symptoms do not occur until very late in the disease process when memory loss is apparent.

The patent has been awarded to Georgetown University and is exclusively licensed to Samaritan.

See peer reviewed journal publications: http://www.samaritanpharma.com/publications_and_patents.asp

Samaritan Pharmaceuticals:
“Transforming Today’s Science Into Tomorrow’s Cures…”

Samaritan Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is an entrepreneurial biopharmaceutical company, focused on commercializing innovative therapeutic products to relieve the suffering of patients with Alzheimer's disease, Cancer, Cardiovascular disease, HIV, and Hepatitis-C. Samaritan, in collaboration with Pharmaplaz, Ireland, is advancing SP-01A, an “oral” HIV viral-entry inhibitor, to late stage clinical trials in Europe since it has completed Phase IIb clinical studies with positive results in the US. Samaritan has three drug candidates in nonclinical studies to develop IND applications, it’s building upon the IND application for Caprospinol, SP-233, to treat Alzheimer's disease patients; evaluating the use of SP-1000 for acute coronary disease patients; and the use of SP-10T1 as an "oral treatment" for Hepatitis-C patients. In addition, Samaritan has acquired the marketing and sales rights to sell ten revenue-generating products in Greece and/or various Eastern European countries.

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The company disclaims any information that is created by an outside party and endorses only information that is communicated by its press releases, filings and Website. This news release contains forward-looking statements that reflect management's current beliefs about the potential for its drug candidates, science and technology. However, as with any biopharmaceutical under development, there are significant risks and uncertainties in the process of development and regulatory review. There are no guarantees that products will prove to be commercially successful. For additional information about the factors that affect the company's business, please read the company's latest Form 10-K filed April 13, 2007. The company undertakes no duty to update forward-looking statements.