Adeona Announces HartLab Expansion Into Microbiology Testing Services

ANN ARBOR, Mich., June 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Adeona Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Amex: AEN) announced that its wholly-owned CLIA-certified clinical testing subsidiary, HartLab, has expanded its in-house diagnostic testing services to include a full array of microbiology testing.  Adeona believes that that this expansion of services will be accretive to HartLab's revenues in the current quarter and beyond and is consistent with Adeona's plans to continue to build the revenues of its HartLab subsidiary.

Microbiology testing includes a broad array of tests for the identification and sensitivity testing of the causative agents of infectious diseases followed by prompt, accurate reporting of results. HartLab has the ability to develop and implement new culture techniques, immunoassays, and molecular methods for rapid detection and identification of common as well as unusual microbial pathogens. Serologic testing is also available for confirmation of infections by demonstrating the presence of specific antibody responses.

As part of its new microbiology department, HartLab has hired Mariana Badescu, MD, PhD, as Technical Supervisor and Mihai Badescu, BS, MA, M(ASCP), as Lead Microbiology Technologist. Dr. Badescu, a certified Specialist in Microbiology and Public Health, comes to HartLab with over 20 years of microbiology laboratory experience and infection control.

"Offering our clients a comprehensive array of clinical testing services under one roof has been a long-term goal for us," said Lisa Jo Abbo, Vice President of HartLab. "We are glad we can add further value to the relationships we have developed with our physician clients and believe these additional services will make HartLab more competitive when it comes to attracting new clients."

About HartLab

Founded in 2006 and located in Bolingbrook, Illinois, HartLab provides clinical laboratory testing services to individual and group physician practices, nursing homes and medical centers in the Chicago area. HartLab is a licensed Medicare and Medicaid provider and accepts insurance from most third party reimbursers, as well as private payers. The laboratory focuses on providing timely results, a high quality of individual service and test results with rigorous integrity. For more information about HartLab, visit www.hartlab.com.

HartLab is also the exclusive provider of the CopperProof panel that was developed in-house. The CopperProof panel is a series of diagnostic tests that offer a comprehensive analysis of the metabolic serum copper and zinc status of patients with Alzheimer's disease and mild cognitive impairment. Defects in copper metabolism and high free copper levels are increasingly being recognized as significant factors in the progression of neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's disease and mild cognitive impairment.

An Adeona-sponsored clinical study found for the first time a clinical zinc deficiency in Alzheimer's disease patients. Currently, Adeona has underway Part 2 of the CopperProof-2 study, a 60-subject comparator study assessing oral zinc cysteine for the dietary management of Alzheimer's disease and mild cognitive impairment.

About Adeona Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Adeona (AMEX: AEN) is a pharmaceutical company developing new medicines for serious central nervous systems diseases. Adeona's primary strategy is to in-license clinical-stage drug candidates that have already demonstrated a certain level of clinical efficacy and develop them to an inflection point in valuation resulting in a significant development and marketing collaboration. Trimesta (estriol) is an investigational oral drug for the treatment of relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis. A 150-patient, 16-center, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial is currently underway. Effirma (flupirtine) is a centrally-acting investigational oral drug for the treatment of fibromyalgia syndrome. Adeona has entered into a potential $17.5 million corporate partnership with Meda AB. As part of the agreement, Meda will assume all future development costs while Adeona is entitled to receive milestone payments and royalties. Zinthionein ZC (zinc cysteine) is an oral, gastro-retentive, sustained-release medical food candidate being developed for the dietary management of Alzheimer's disease and mild cognitive impairment. A 60-patient randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical study is currently underway. dnaJP1 (hsp peptide) is an investigational oral drug for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. It has completed a 160-patient, multi-center, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial. ZincMonoCysteine (zinc-monocysteine) is an investigational oral drug for the treatment of dry age-related macular degeneration. It has completed an 80-patient, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial. Further information on the company is available at www.adeonapharma.com.

This release includes forward-looking statements on Adeona's current expectations and projections about future events. In some cases forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "may," "should," "potential," "continue," "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates," and similar expressions. These statements are based upon current beliefs, expectations and assumptions and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are difficult to predict and include statements regarding additional services making HartLab more competitive and HartLab's ability to develop and implement new culture techniques, immunoassays, and molecular methods for rapid detection and identification of common as well as unusual microbial pathogens. The forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those set forth or implied by any forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those reflected in Adeona's forward-looking statements include, among others, a failure to expand the services currently offered or develop techniques and methods for rapid detection of microbial pathogens, a failure of additional services to result in the attraction of new customers, and other factors described in Adeona's report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2009 and any other filings with the SEC. The information in this release is provided only as of the date of this release, and Adeona undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this release on account of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by law.

SOURCE Adeona Pharmaceuticals, Inc.