Bionovo Announces Third Quarter 2009 Highlights and Financial Results

"-- The Company presented the results of a study on the effects of two plant-derived, tissue-selective estrogen receptor alpha (ERa) modulators (TSERaM) on menopausal obesity at the 20th Annual Meeting of the North American Menopause Society. In this study, plant-derived TSERaMs,like estrogens, were shown to reduce body fat in mice, but while estrogens also caused cell proliferation in the mammary gland and uterus, the plant-derived TSERaMs did not elicit these potentially cancer-causing side effects. These results suggest that the development of botanically-derived, tissue-selective ERa modulators could result in a safer alternative for the treatment of menopausal weight gain, a condition that can lead to the development of metabolic syndrome, a combination of risk factors for cardiovascular disease and diabetes."