EntreMed plans to establish drug development office in China

EntreMed, Inc. (Nasdaq: ENMD), a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company developing therapeutics for the treatment of cancer, announced today that it has initiated plans to establish an office in China to facilitate the Company's drug development and clinical trials in that country.  Additionally, the Company and Selected Value Therapeutics, LLC (SVT) terminated their agreement regarding SVT's right to enter into a license agreement to develop and commercialize the Company's lead compound, ENMD-2076, in China and certain of its territories.  SVT will not retain any rights to ENMD-2076.  SVT, of which a majority of its shareholders participated in the Company's recent strategic financing, agreed to terminate the agreement in order to allow the Company greater flexibility to execute its global drug development strategy.  

Dr. Wei-Wu He, the Company's Executive Chairman of the Board commented, "Our recent strategic financing, led by IDG-Accel, provided an opportunity for the Company to assess its clinical strategy and new resources to accelerate the development of targeted drug candidates, such as ENMD-2076, by using a global approach to conducting high quality clinical trials, with an emphasis in China and the United States.  Establishing an operation in China will facilitate building deeper relationships with local medical institutions, regulatory agencies and broader sources of capital.  We will also continue to be opportunistic about the timing and terms of financing opportunities in both the United States and China. We believe this global approach will be a key driver to build value for our shareholders."