EAGAN, MINN. – December 29, 2003 – Promising initial study results demonstrate that a soluble beta glucan compound significantly increased
the effectiveness of monoclonal antibodies specific for the treatment of breast, liver and lung cancer, according to a recent article published in
Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

In a series of preclinical studies, a therapeutic combination of a patented, soluble yeast beta glucan called NSG from Biopolymer Engineering, Inc. and monoclonal antibodies significantly enhanced both tumor regression and long-term survival as compared with monoclonal antibody therapy alone. In the breast cancer model, 40 percent of the mice receiving the combined therapy survived long-term and tumor-free, compared with no survivors among mice treated with the monoclonal antibody or NSG alone. Similarly,
in a liver cancer model the combined therapy extended survival and
increased long-term survivorship by 25 percent.

“The data suggests that the therapeutic efficacy of certain complement-activating monoclonal antibodies, like Herceptin, Rituxan and Erbitux, could
be significantly enhanced if they were combined with NSG,” said Gordon D. Ross, Ph.D., Director of the Tumor Immunobiology Program at the James Graham Brown Cancer Center located at the University of Louisville and the senior author of the paper. “Given the limited tumor-killing mechanisms available to monoclonal antibodies, soluble beta glucan engages another
arm of the immune system to fight cancer. NSG is a potentially important adjuvant to monoclonal antibodies for enhancing long-term cancer survival
by providing this additive effect to these immunotherapies.”

For a PDF of the paper, entitled “ß-Glucan Functions as an Adjuvant
for Monoclonal Antibody Immunotherapy by Recruiting Tumoricidal Granulocytes as Killer Cells,” click here.  The research was conducted by
Dr. Ross and his colleagues at the University of Louisville in conjunction
with Biopolymer Engineering, a Minnesota biotechnology company that is developing soluble beta glucan compounds.

NSG effectively recruits neutrophils, which are innate immune cells, to
engage in tumoricidal activities. Normally, these white blood cells do not engage in the fight against cancer cells since they are viewed as “self,”
only respond to “nonself” cells. Dr. Ross discovered that NSG, a polysaccharide derived from a proprietary strain of yeast, binds to a
specific receptor site on these innate immune cells, allowing them to “see” the cancer as “nonself” and trigger killing.

Background
The research was supported by a grant from the National Institute of Health/National Cancer Institute, the US Army Breast Cancer Pre-Clinical Bridge Award and a grant from The Kentucky Lung Cancer Research Board.

Biopolymer Engineering, Inc. is a privately held biotechnology company focused on developing carbohydrate technologies to improve immune
health. Founded in 1997 and based in Eagan, Minnesota, the company has more than 40 U.S. patents and patents pending, with additional filings in more than 30 countries. Website: www.biopolymer.com.

About the Authors
Gordon D. Ross, Ph.D. is Director of the Tumor Immunobiology Program at
the James Graham Brown Cancer Center located at the University of Louisville.

Feng Hong, Ph.D. is postdoctoral fellow at the Department of Pediatrics, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY.

Richard D. Hansen, Ph.D., Juan Yuan, Ph.D., Daniel J. Allendorf, Ph.D. and Jarek T. Baran, Ph.D. are researchers at the James Graham Brown Cancer Center.

Gary R. Ostroff, Ph.D. is the former Vice President of Research and Development at Biopolymer Engineering, Inc.

Contact:
David Walsh
Biopolymer Engineering, Inc.
651-256-4606 (direct)
651-675-0400 (fax)
dwalsh@biopolymer.com