OXiGENE : Active Metabolite of ZYBRESTAT Improves Glucose Metabolism through Similar Mechanism as a Sirtuin Agonist

April 30, 2008--OXiGENE, Inc. (NASDAQ: OXGN, XSSE: OXGN) a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel therapeutics to treat cancer and eye diseases, announced the publication by Zhang et al. of a paper demonstrating that combretastatin-A4, like its structural analog, resveratrol, activates cellular pathways (AMP-activated protein kinase and PPAR) involved in glucose regulation and improves glucose metabolism in a preclinical model of diabetes. Resveratrol is a stilbene compound found in red wine and other plant products that has been shown to increase healthy lifespan in animals and reduce blood glucose levels in humans with type-2 diabetes. Combrestatin-A4, a stilbene compound originally isolated from the African bush willow tree and similar in structure to resveratrol, is the active metabolite of ZYBRESTAT(TM) (fosbretabulin)... OXiGENE's Press Release -