Palatin Technologies, Inc. confirmed the commencement of a phase I clinical trial of AZD2820, a subcutaneously-administered peptide melanocortin receptor partial agonist, under development as a single-agent therapy for the treatment of obesity. AZD2820 is a clinical candidate selected by AstraZeneca from its collaborative research program with Palatin Technologies.

Obesity is a global problem, with the World Health Organization estimating that over 1.5 billion adults are overweight and over 500 million are obese. Worldwide obesity has more than doubled since 1980. A number of different metabolic and hormonal pathways are being evaluated by companies around the world in efforts to develop better treatments for obesity. Scientific research has established that melanocortin receptors have a role in eating behaviour and energy homoeostasis, and that some melanocortin receptor agonists decrease food intake and induce weight loss in animal studies.

The single centre study is expected to enroll 90 subjects in a randomized, single-blind, placebo-controlled, phase I trial in healthy male volunteers. For more information on this clinical trial with AZD2820, please visit www.clinicaltrials.gov.

“We are very pleased that AstraZeneca has initiated a phase I clinical trial with a collaboration compound, demonstrating AstraZeneca’s ongoing commitment and diligence in exploring melanocortin compounds for the treatment of obesity,” said Dr Carl Spana, president and chief executive officer of Palatin.

Pursuant to the terms of the research collaboration and license agreement with AstraZeneca, Palatin is eligible for milestone payments upon achieving development and regulatory milestones and further payments on achievement of sales targets, in addition to royalties on sales of approved products. AstraZeneca has responsibility for product commercialization, product discovery and development costs.

In 2007, Palatin Technologies entered into an exclusive research collaboration and license agreement with AstraZeneca to discover, develop and commercialize compounds that target melanocortin receptors for the treatment of obesity, diabetes and related metabolic syndrome. Active development work by Palatin under the collaboration portion of the agreement concluded in January 2010.

Palatin Technologies, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company developing targeted, receptor- specific peptide therapeutics for the treatment of diseases with significant unmet medical need and commercial potential.