About Us | Press Releases | 2006 | May 16

BIO IT COALITION HONORS AVALON PHARMACEUTICALS AS ITS 2006 BEST PRACTICES COMPANY

GERMANTOWN, MD - Avalon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq and ArcaEx®: AVRX), a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of small molecule therapeutics, was awarded the 2006 BIO IT Best Practices Company Award.  The award was presented by the BIO IT Coalition at their 5th Annual Conference held at George Mason University, on May 4-5, 2006.  This award is given to the company whose imagination, innovation and intelligent risk-taking in the application of IT in the life sciences has led to the most dramatic progress in the advancement of BIO IT either through its own development or its influence on the industry.

"We are honored to be selected by the BIO IT Coalition for this award," commented Kenneth C. Carter, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Avalon Pharmaceuticals, Inc.  "We are at an exciting stage in the use of our unique technology, AvalonRx®, as we work to produce the next generation of cancer medicines and guide their development through the use of our proprietary biomarker strategies.  Our partnerships with companies like Novartis and MedImmune also allow us to expand the opportunities that AvalonRx® provides to other disease categories, helping us continue to strive toward practical innovation."

About Avalon Pharmaceuticals - Avalon Pharmaceuticals is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of small molecule therapeutics through the use of a comprehensive, innovative and proprietary suite of technologies based upon large-scale gene expression analysis which it calls AvalonRx®.  This platform facilitates drug discovery by expanding the range of therapeutic targets for drug intervention, including targets and target pathways frequently considered intractable using conventional HTS approaches.  It allows more informed decisions about which compounds to advance towards clinical trials and facilitates drug development through identification of biomarkers of efficacy that can stratify patients or provide early indicators of response.  Avalon's focus is oncology but has discovery programs in other therapeutic areas with its partners.  Avalon Pharmaceuticals was established in 1999 and is headquartered in Germantown, Maryland.  For more information, please visit www.avalonrx.com.