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Pilot Therapeutics obtains patent for triglyceride-lowering product

Aug. 1, 2003
Pilot Therapeutics
CHARLESTON, S.C., August 20, 2003 –Pilot Therapeutics Holdings, Inc. (OTCBB: PLTT.OB), a specialty pharmaceutical company developing and commercializing a portfolio of pharmaceutical and clinically validated over-the-counter (OTC) products, today announced that it has received a notice of allowance from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for a patent covering its product, PLT 732, that markedly reduces serum triglycerides in hypertriglyceridemia patients.

“Hypertriglyceridemia, or elevated triglyceride levels, has been identified as an important risk factor for several human diseases, including cardiovascular disease, stroke and diabetes,” explained Floyd H. “Ski” Chilton, Ph.D., Pilot’s president and chief executive officer. “Despite recent studies showing elevated triglycerides as a major risk factor for these diseases, there are few therapeutic options. The allowance of these patent claims is clearly an important milestone that will allow us to address this problem in some of the largest medical markets in the United States.”

Studies sponsored by Pilot indicated PLT 732 markedly reduces triglycerides in hypertriglyceridemic patients and point out the potential for PLT 732 to play a major role in managing elevated triglyceride levels associated with a wide range of human diseases. “The studies demonstrate the feasibility of managing circulating triglyceride concentrations with PLT 732,” said Marc Surette, Ph.D., Pilot’s vice president of research and the inventor of the PLT 732 technology. “The allowance of these patent claims represents a crucial next step in Pilot’s development of additional products in this area.”

Triglyceride-Related Diseases Prevalent in U.S.
Approximately 1.1 million Americans experience heart attacks each year, according to the American Heart Association, and approximately 12 million living survivors are at risk for a second heart attack. A recent study in the journal Circulation (Vol 104:2892) reveals high triglyceride levels as an important modifiable risk factor for stroke in humans. Triglyceride elevations also are an important risk factor associated with Type II diabetes, and are included as a virulent and potentially lethal group of atherosclerotic risk factors, termed metabolic syndrome. Sales of prescription drugs to manage these diseases, when combined, exceed $45 billion annually, according to MedAdNews (May 2002).


About Pilot
Pilot Therapeutics Holdings, Inc. is a specialty pharmaceutical company that, through its subsidiaries, is developing and commercializing a pipeline of novel prescription and over-the counter (OTC) medical food products. The Company’s products are positioned to meet the untapped demand in the marketplace for safe and efficacious natural products and the desire of patients to control their own health. The Company utilizes a proprietary, state-of-the-art fatty acid and genomic profiling research platform, “Functional Liponomics™,” to discover and develop both medical food and prescription products for chronic inflammatory human diseases. The Company’s pipeline of products addresses several disease categories, including asthma, elevated triglycerides associated with cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and stroke, arthritis, cancer, and allergic rhinitis. Its lead OTC medical food product, Airozin™, is the first clinically proven OTC maintenance product for the dietary management of asthma, a disease that afflicts approximately 20 million Americans. Pilot Therapeutics Holdings, Inc.’s common stock is traded on the Over-the-Counter Bulletin Board under the ticker symbol “PLTT.OB.”

For more information about Pilot Therapeutics,
visit www.pilott.com

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