Octamer Inc. Information

Founded in 1990, Octamer, Inc. is developing novel pharmaceuticals toattack several of the most important diseases of man. Octamer's drug developmentprogram has been built upon a rational drug design and screening approachusing the techniques of modern biotechnology to generate small moleculesthat specifically target key molecular events within the cell. Thespecificity of action of these molecules allows the Company to select candidatesfor therapeutic development which have minimal toxic side effects. Octamer's rational drug design takes advantage of the tremendous growthin understanding of gene expression regulatory systems that hasoccured during the past 20 years. Dr. Ernest Kun, Octamer's chiefscientist, began his studies of a key enzyme regulating gene expressionalmost three decades ago. Today this enzyme, called "PARP",is known to be a master regulator, a critical element of the cellular controlmachinery that determines which of the 50,000 to 100,000 genes in any celltype are allowed to be decoded (normally only a few percent), giving thatcell type its unique behavioral characteristics. This regulatoryprocess includes the control of cell proliferation, and therefor the controlof cell metastasis, i.e. cancer. Two of Octamer's lead product candidatesare specific inhibitors of PARP.