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Oct 17 2006, 9:57 AM EST

Renowned Researcher Dr. Mauro Ferrari Launches New Company to Battle Cancer

News source: Business Wire

Dr. Mauro Ferrari, the world's leading cancer nanotechnology authority, has announced the creation of Leonardo BioSystems, Inc., a new company that will focus on nanotechnology-based cancer therapeutics. Toward these ends, Leonardo will integrate Dr. Ferrari's extensive technology portfolio with the discoveries of many of the premier cancer research institutions.

More than 11 million people are diagnosed with cancer every year. It is estimated that there will be 16 million new cases every year by 2020. Cancer causes 7 million deaths every year, greater than 12% of deaths worldwide. According to the Centers for Disease Control, it is the second leading cause of death for Americans behind only heart disease, and the leading cause of death for older Americans. Leonardo BioSystems will employ its growing portfolio of diverse technologies to develop new modes of delivering cancer therapeutics in a highly specific and integrated fashion.

According to Dr. Ferrari, "We are at a very important junction in time in humankind's battle against cancer. The time is near that cancer will no longer be a sentence of death or suffering for anyone. We are all committed to doing all that is in our power to make this vision come true."

Dr. Ferrari is a Professor at the Brown Institute of Molecular Medicine, and Chairman of the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston, TX. He also serves as Professor of Experimental Therapeutics at The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, the Nation's leading cancer center, and as Adjunct Professor of Bioengineering at Rice University. He is the President of the Alliance for NanoHealth, an innovative collaboration of seven Houston-area research institutions dedicated to nurturing medical applications on a nanometer scale. The Alliance for NanoHealth's mission is clinical translation of breakthrough nanotechnology innovations for human health.

Dr. Ferrari came to Houston after a two-year stint as special expert on nanotech for the National Cancer Institute (NCI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), developing the nation's strategic blueprint for combating cancer and the development of the Alliance for Nanotechnology in Cancer. Dr. Ferrari has earned numerous patents and authored more than 150 scientific papers. He also has previously founded four venture-backed biomedical start-up companies.

Leonardo has received in excess of $1 million in start-up and is being built in collaboration with the Benet Group, LLC. Benet, founded by noted nano- and biotech investor and executive Chris Anzalone, is a private equity firm devoted to co-founding and actively building nanobiotechnology companies.

According to Dr. Anzalone, "Recent advances in nanotechnology and cancer research have convinced us that a paradigm shift in the development of cancer therapeutics may be at hand. We believe that a fundamentally new approach to cancer drug delivery is now possible and there is simply no better person in the world to build this company with than Mauro Ferrari."

Leonardo BioSystems is exploring the possibility of building out research operations in Houston, near the home of the Nanohealth Alliance. Leonardo has plans to begin a new round of animal trials by the end of the year and will soon be announcing additions to the research and management teams, extensive licensing arrangements with leading research universities and further developments in regards to the funding of the Company. Dr. Ferrari will be further discussing his research and the launch of Leonardo at the Lux Executive Summit where he is a keynote speaker.

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