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VIA Pharmaceuticals Expands Clinical Advisory Board With Leading Experts in Cardiovascular Disease

Posted on: Monday, 12 November 2007, 09:01 CST

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- VIA Pharmaceuticals , a biotechnology company focused on the development of compounds for the treatment of cardiovascular disease, today announced the expansion of its clinical advisory board. Joining the clinical advisory board's chair, Marc Pfeffer, M.D., Ph.D., Dzau Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, and Senior Physician, Brigham & Women's Hospital in Boston, and Jean-Claude Tardif, M.D., Associate Professor of Medicine, University of Montreal, and Director of Research, Montreal Heart Institute, are Marcelo Di Carli, M.D., Associate Professor of Radiology, and Chief of Nuclear Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital; Robert Fenichel, M.D., Ph.D, Former Deputy Division Director, Division of CardioRenal Drug Products, Food and Drug Administration; Peter Libby, M.D., Mallinckrodt Professor of Medicine, and Chief, Cardiovascular Division, Brigham and Women's Hospital; and, Jean-Lucien Rouleau, M.D., Dean, Faculty of Medicine, University of Montreal.

"The addition of these well-respected physicians to VIA's clinical advisory board comes at an important time in our history," said Larry Cohen, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer of VIA. "As we prepare for the release of Phase II clinical trial data in the middle of 2008, our clinical advisory board will provide independent medical, scientific, and regulatory guidance in supporting our efforts to advance VIA-2291 as a treatment of cardiovascular disease."

About VIA-2291

VIA's lead product candidate, VIA-2291, is a small molecule drug that targets inflammation in the blood vessel wall, a primary disease process in atherosclerosis. VIA-2291 is a potent, selective and reversible inhibitor of 5-LO, which is a key enzyme in the biosynthesis of leukotrienes (important mediators of inflammation involved in the development and progression of atherosclerosis). VIA-2291 is being developed as a once-daily, oral drug to target inflammation in the blood vessel wall, thereby potentially decreasing the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events, including heart attack and stroke. According to the American Heart Association, 15.8 million patients in the U.S. have coronary artery disease.

About VIA Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

VIA Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a biotechnology company focused on the development of compounds for the treatment of cardiovascular disease. VIA is building a pipeline of small-molecule drugs that target a significant unmet medical need: reducing inflammation in the blood vessel wall, which is an underlying cause of atherosclerosis and its complications, including heart attack and stroke. The company's lead drug candidate, VIA-2291, is in multiple Phase II clinical studies in patients with cardiovascular disease. For more information, visit: http://www.viapharmaceuticals.com/.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release may contain "forward-looking" statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements relate to future events or to VIA's future financial performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause VIA's actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by the use of words such as "may,""could,""expect,""intend,""plan,""seek,""anticipate,""believe,""estimate,""predict,""potential,""continue" or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements since they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which are, in some cases, beyond VIA's control and which could materially affect actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements.

Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations include, but are not limited to:

* our ability to obtain necessary financing; * our ability to control our operating expenses; * our ability to recruit and enroll patients for the CEA, ACS and FDG- PET clinical trials; * our ability to successfully complete our clinical trials of VIA-2291 on expected timetables and the outcomes of such clinical trials; * the results of our clinical trials, including without limitation, with respect to the safety and efficacy of VIA-2291; * the outcome of any legal proceedings; * our ability to obtain necessary FDA approvals; * our ability to successfully commercialize VIA-2291; * our ability to obtain and protect our intellectual property related to our product candidates; * our potential for future growth and the development of our product pipeline; * our ability to form and maintain collaborative relationships to develop and commercialize our product candidates; * general economic and business conditions; and * the other risks described under the heading "Risk Factors" in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2007 on file with the SEC and in Amendment No. 3 to our Registration Statement on Form S-3, filed with the SEC October 15, 2007.

All forward-looking statements attributable to us or persons acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements set forth above. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and VIA undertakes no obligation to update publicly any of these statements in light of new information or future events.

VIA Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

CONTACT: James G. Stewart, Senior Vice President and Chief FinancialOfficer of VIA Pharmaceuticals, Inc., +1-415-283-2204; or investors, IanClements or Lauren Glaser - San Francisco, +1-415-392-3385, or Brian Korb -New York City, +1-646-378-2923, all of The Trout Group, for VIAPharmaceuticals; or media, Aimee Corso of WeissComm Partners, +1-310-780-2661,for VIA Pharmaceuticals

Web site: http://www.viapharmaceuticals.com/

Source: PRNewswire-FirstCall

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