NeoPharm Inc. (Nasdaq/NM:NEOL) announced today that pre-clinical data for a new formulation of LErafAON (Liposome entrapped c-raf antisense oligonucleotide) was presented via poster presentation on Sunday March 28th at the 2004 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) in Orlando Florida. Copies of the two abstracts #637 and #638 are available on the NeoPharm website http://www.neophrm.com.

The research posters for a formulation of a ready to use liposome entrapped raf antisense oligonucleotide (LErafAON) described anticancer effects of LErafAON against several mouse tumor models including human breast ovarian and prostate cancer in comparison - and in combination with - Taxol(R) and Taxotere(R).

Abstract #638 unveiled at the AACR meeting on Sunday March 28th provided evidence that in both human breast and ovarian tumor models LErafAON treatment inhibited tumor growth by 59% and 45% respectively whereas Taxol(R) inhibited ovarian tumor model by 41% and the combination of LErafAON and Taxol(R) inhibited ovarian tumor growth by 90%. These results suggest that LErafAON appears to act as a chemotherapeutic sensitizer and may prove useful to enhance the inhibitory effect of Taxol(R) in ovarian cancer growth.