HORMOS licenses HMRlignan™ to LINNEA

[Released April 18, 2005]

Hormos Medical Corporation has signed a world-wide license agreement for its dietary supplement ingredient HMRlignan™ with the Swiss botanical ingredient manufacturing company Linnea SA.

HMRlignan™ is a plant lignan, 7-hydroxymatairesinol, isolated and purified from Norway spruce (picea abies). Lignans are generally classified as phytoestrogens, compounds that in humans have a weak estrogen like activity. In humans 7-hydroxymatairesinol is converted into mammalian lignan, enterolactone. Low intake of lignan and/or low enterolactone serum levels have in epidemiological studies been shown to be associated with increased risk of certain hormone dependent health conditions, including breast cancer and cardiovascular disease. In other studies phytoestrogens have been shown to alleviate menopausal symptoms.

HMRlignan™ is a highly purified lignan, which effectively elevates the enterolactone level already at milligram doses. In May 2004 Hormos obtained new dietary ingredient (NDI) clearance from the FDA, which allows HMRlignan™ containing dietary supplements to be marketed in the USA. HMRlignan™ is the first, and to date only commercially available high purity lignan product.

"This is an important step in our long journey toward market launch of HMRlignan™" says Dr. Risto Lammintausta, CEO of Hormos Medical Corp. "We are very excited about our collaboration with Linnea, who have the necessary manufacturing capabilities and marketing skills which will be required for a successful commercialization of the product."

"Hormos have developed an excellent product in HMRlignan™" says Michael Granville, President of Linnea SA. "We believe it will give our customers a significant advantage in price, dosage and bioavailability compared to other sources of lignans. It is also is an excellent fit with our future product strategy."

Hormos Medical Corporation is a biopharmaceutical company based in Turku, Finland, focused on research and development of products to treat a range of endocrine disorders associated with aging. The most advanced drugs in development are ospemifene for the treatment of conditions and symptoms associated with declining estrogen levels in postmenopausal women, and fispemifene for the treatment of androgen deficiency and associated conditions in elderly males, now entering clinical phase III and II, respectively.

From its headquarters and manufacturing facility in Locarno, Switzerland, Linnea specialises in the manufacture of botanicals extracts and phyto-chemicals, and is a leading supplier to the pharmaceutical, dietary supplement and cosmetic industries.

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