OXiGENE announces commencement of Phase I/II clinical trial of Combretastatin ...( WATERTOWN Mass.-- Jan. 7 2003-- OXiGE...)

WATERTOWN, Mass.-- Jan. 7, 2003-- OXiGENE, Inc. (Nasdaq: OXGN, SSE: OXGN) today announced the initiation of a Phase I/II combination study of its lead vascular targeting agent (VTA), Combretastatin A4 Prodrug (CA4P), in patients with advanced cancer of the lung, head & neck and prostate. These cancers accounted for an estimated 192,500 deaths in the United States in 2002. CA4P became the first VTA to move to an advanced-stage human trial when OXiGENE announced the commencement of a Phase II trial in late December for CA4P in patients with a rare and often incurable form of thyroid cancer.

In the Phase I/II trial, CA4P will be combined with radiotherapy in a dose-escalating study of approximately 30 patients to be conducted at Mount Vernon Hospital in London. The trial protocol has been approved by the United Kingdom's health regulatory authority, the Medicines Control Agency, as well as the hospital's Institutional Ethics Committee. OXiGENE's CA4P represents an emerging class of novel tumor-starving compounds that are designed to selectively damage the vascular structure of solid tumors.

"The combination of CA4P and radiotherapy has shown a high degree of synergy in pre-clinical studies, with a 10-500 fold reduction in tumor cell survival as compared with radiotherapy treatment alone," said Fred Driscoll, OXiGENE's President and CEO. "As a result, we are particularly excited about this next phase of clinical development.

This is the second combination trial of CA4P initiated this year, and we plan to continue pursuing clinical opportunities targeting CA4P at specific cancer indications."

"In the Phase I studies of CA4P given as a single agent, there was compelling imaging data demonstrating blood flow reductions to central tumor regions," said the trial's lead investigator, Peter Hoskin, M.D., clinical oncologist at Mount Vernon Hospital. "In several pre-clinical studies, CA4P was shown to augment the tumor-killing ability of radiation,
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Contact: Scott Solomon
ssolomon@investorrelations.com
617-542-5300
Sharon Merrill Associates, Inc.
7-Jan-2003

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