Concert Pharmaceuticals Granted Patent for Deuterated Paroxetine Compounds, Including CTP-347

March 31 , 2010 -- Lexington, Mass -- Concert Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced that the US Patent and Trademark Office has issued U.S. Patent No. 7,678,914. This patent specifically claims deuterium analogs of paroxetine, including CTP-347, Concert’s non-hormonal treatment of vasomotor symptoms (hot flashes). Concert has over 100 issued or pending US and European patents on deuterated drug families.

"We are pleased to expand our intellectual property portfolio and expect additional patent grants on compounds derived from our DCE (deuterated chemical entity) Platform," stated Roger Tung, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Concert Pharmaceuticals. "This patent along with other recent patent grants demonstrates our ability to obtain intellectual property protection for these novel compositions of matter and further validates the value of our deuterium-based approach."

Paroxetine is a serotonin reuptake inhibitor that has been shown to reduce vasomotor symptoms. However, paroxetine inactivates the important liver enzyme CYP2D6 which can lead to serious side effects when used in combination with many common medications or can reduce the effectiveness of those medications. In contrast, a Phase 1 study showed that the activity of CYP2D6 was substantially retained following administration of CTP-347, potentially enabling its broader use with other drugs. In vitro studies had previously shown that CTP-347 did not exhibit mechanism-based inactivation of CYP2D6 in human liver microsomes. The pharmacokinetics of CTP-347 in the Phase 1 study were therefore consistent with those observed in preclinical studies.

About Deuterium
Deuterium is a safe, non-radioactive relative of hydrogen that can be isolated from sea water and has been used extensively in human metabolic and clinical studies. Since deuterium resembles hydrogen, deuterium-containing compounds are expected to preserve the pharmacological activity of their hydrogen analogs. An important difference is that deuterium is heavier than hydrogen and therefore forms a stronger chemical bond to a carbon atom of a drug. The stronger chemical bond obtained by selective deuterium modification in select instances may substantially improve the drug’s metabolic properties, potentially resulting in better safety, tolerability and/or efficacy.

About Concert
Concert Pharmaceuticals is a clinical stage biotechnology company focused on applying the company’s DCE (deuterated chemical entity) platform to create novel and differentiated small molecule drugs. Concert’s approach leverages known activity and safety of existing drugs to reduce time, risk and expense of drug research and development. The Company has a broad research pipeline encompassing many therapeutic areas including infectious disease and renal disease, among others. In 2009, Concert entered into a potential $1 billion strategic alliance with GlaxoSmithKline to develop and commercialize certain deuterium-containing medicines. Founded in 2006, Concert has raised more than $110 million of venture and institutional capital. For more information on Concert Pharmaceuticals, please visit www.concertpharma.com.

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