RXi Pharmaceuticals to present data on rxRNA therapeutic platform development at upcoming conferences

RXi Pharmaceuticals Corporation (Nasdaq: RXII), a biopharmaceutical company pursuing the development and commercialization of proprietary therapeutics based on RNA interference (RNAi), today announced that senior members of its management will be presenting at upcoming conferences and will highlight critical aspects of the development of RXi's next generation rxRNA™ therapeutic platform as well as specific preclinical data generated with this platform.

“Combination of Oligo Configuration and Chemical Modification Provides Drug-Like Properties to RNAi Molecules.”

Drs. Joanne Kamens, Dmitry Samarsky and Pamela Pavco will be speaking at the IBC TIDES Oligonucleotide and Peptide® Technology and Product Development Conference and the IBC Oligonucleotide Therapeutics Discovery Conference co-located in Boston, Massachusetts on April 25 - 28, 2010. Their presentations will focus on key topics related to the company's therapeutic platform, highlighting the following: a) Critical strategies for design of oligonucleotide compounds with therapeutic potential; b) Development and composition of RXi's novel RNAi compounds including single-oligo (rxRNAsolo™) and 'self-delivering' rxRNA (sd-rxRNA™) molecules; and c) In vivo activity of RXi's proprietary sd-rxRNA compounds, which silence targets in vitro and in vivo with no additional delivery vehicle.

Next generation rxRNA™ compounds potentially convey significant advantages over conventional siRNA ("small interfering RNA") compounds, and offer many of the properties that may be important to the clinical development of RNAi-based drugs, including high potency, increased resistance to nucleases, a reduction in off-target effects, and, in the case of the sd-rxRNA compounds, access to cells and tissues with no requirement for additional delivery vehicles. In addition, the enhanced drug-like properties engineered into the sd-rxRNA configuration afford opportunities for use in a broad array of therapeutic indications making this new class of RNAi molecules a key addition to the rxRNA family of compounds.

The conference presentations by management include the following:

Sunday, April 25, workshop at 2:00 PM

• Joanne Kamens, Ph.D., Senior Director of Research Collaboration Management, will participate in a workshop entitled "Oligonucleotide Lead Discovery and Candidate Selection" and will outline strategies for high throughput identification of advanced rxRNA compounds for therapeutic programs Her presentation is entitled "Design of Oligonucleotide Screens: Using Early Design Parameters to Increase Success."

Monday, April 26, 2:45 PM

• Dmitry Samarsky, Ph.D., Vice President of Technology Development, will deliver a presentation entitled "Combination of Oligo Configuration and Chemical Modification Provides Drug-Like Properties to RNAi Molecules." His talk will outline the development of novel therapeutic chemistries and configurations of RNAi triggers, with a focus on sd-rxRNAs, and the optimization of this technology to enable in vivo studies.

Wednesday, April 28, 8:45 AM

• Pamela Pavco, Ph.D., Vice President of Drug Development will present a talk entitled "Optimization of RNAi for Therapeutic Development," highlighting the ability of sd-rxRNAs to affect robust in vivo gene silencing upon local administration to the skin using intradermal administration. Results presented support the use of sd-rxRNAs for clinical applications where direct administration to the tissue of interest is possible.

Source RXi Pharmaceuticals Corporation