Press Release
CONTACT:
Fred Kurland
Chief Financial Officer
Corcept Therapeutics
650-327-3270
IR@corcept.com
CORCEPT THERAPEUTICS ANNOUNCES ALLOWANCE OF EUROPEAN PATENT COVERING USE OF GR-II ANTAGONISTS TO TREAT THE PSYCHOTIC FEATURES OF PSYCHOTIC MAJOR DEPRESSION
Menlo Park, Calif.,
(February 6, 2006) -- Corcept Therapeutics Incorporated, (NASDAQ:
CORT), today announced that the European Patent Office (EPO) has allowed
the Company's patent covering the use of GR-II antagonists to treat the
psychotic features of Psychotic Major Depression (PMD). This patent is
exclusively licensed to the Company by Stanford University.
"We are delighted
with the allowance of our European patent", said Joseph K. Belanoff,
M.D., Chief Executive Officer of Corcept, "especially considering
that in 2004 Akzo Nobel filed an observation with the EPO challenging
the claims of our patent application. In 2005 we submitted a rebuttal
to the EPO responding to the points raised by Akzo. The fact that this
patent has been allowed with its broadest claims intact is very gratifying."
About Psychotic Major Depression
PMD is a serious psychiatric disorder that affects approximately three million people annually in the United States. It is more prevalent than either schizophrenia or manic depressive illness. The disorder is characterized by severe depression accompanied by delusions, hallucinations or both. People with PMD are approximately 70 times more likely to commit suicide than the general population and often require lengthy and expensive hospital stays. There is no FDA-approved treatment for PMD.
About Corcept Therapeutics Incorporated
Corcept Therapeutics
Incorporated is a pharmaceutical company engaged in the development of
drugs for the treatment of severe psychiatric and neurological diseases.
Corcept's lead product, CORLUX®, is currently in Phase III clinical
trials for the treatment of the psychotic features of psychotic major
depression. The drug is administered orally to PMD patients once per day
for seven days. CORLUX, a potent GR-II antagonist, appears to mitigate
the effects of the elevated and abnormal release patterns of cortisol
seen in PMD. For additional information about the company, please visit
www.corcept.com.
Statements made in
this news release, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking
statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of known
and unknown risks and uncertainties that might cause actual results to
differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements.
For example, there can be no assurances with respect to the ability to
obtain and maintain adequate patent protection for our business. These
and other risk factors are set forth in the Company's SEC filings, all
of which are available from our website (www.corcept.com) or from the
SEC's website (www.sec.gov). We disclaim any intention or duty to update
any forward-looking statement made in this news release.