Genaera Corporation announced that E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company has entered into an option agreement for certain antimicrobial peptide intellectual property held by Genaera. The option is in place for up to three years from October 2002 and provides reimbursement to Genaera for patent related expenses.

"Genaera has a rich history of discovery science that we will continue to exploit," commented Roy C. Levitt, President and Chief Executive Officer. "We appreciate the interest of DuPont in certain aspects of our antimicrobial peptide technology."

Genaera Corporation is a biopharmaceutical company committed to developing medicines for serious diseases from genomics and natural products. Research and development efforts are focused on anti-angiogenesis and respiratory diseases. Genaera has three products in development addressing substantial unmet medical needs in major pharmaceutical markets. These include squalamine, an anti-angiogenesis treatment for cancer and eye disease; interleukin-9 antibody, a respiratory treatment based on the discovery of a genetic cause of asthma; and Lomucin, a mucoregulator to treat the overproduction of mucus and secretions involved in many forms of chronic respiratory disease.