Bionovo to Present at Wall Street Analyst Forum's 20th Annual Institutional Investor Conference

EMERYVILLE, Calif., March 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Bionovo, Inc. (Nasdaq: BNVI), a drug discovery and development company focused on the unmet needs in women's health and oncology, today announced that Isaac Cohen, Chairman and CEO of Bionovo, will be presenting at the Wall Street Analyst Forum's 20th Annual Institutional Investor Conference at 9:50 a.m. EDT on March 25, 2009. The event will be held at the University Club in New York City.

Analysts and portfolio managers can access a live webcast of the presentation by visiting www.analyst-conference.com and clicking on the analyst/pm registration tab. A replay will be available for 30 days following the conference.

Bionovo is on the leading-edge of developing a new class of drugs that address important conditions in women's health relating to menopausal issues and breast cancer. Bionovo has a number of drug candidates in various clinical trial stages, which the Company believes have significant future market opportunities.

    Some of the recent key developments for Bionovo's drug candidates include:



    MF101



    --  An independent physician survey shows strong evidence that, if

        approved, Menerba(TM) (MF101) could become first-line treatment for

        menopausal symptoms.  This suggests that Menerba could take a leading

        position in a multi-billion dollar market.

    --  Bionovo announced that it has developed a novel analytical

        2-dimensional liquid chromatography mass spectrometry-based

        (LC/LC-MS/MS) multiplexing platform that allows for the rapid,

        specific, sensitive automated quantification of the active

        pharmaceutical compounds of Menerba.  If applied to botanical drug

        product production, this technique should facilitate exquisite

        batch-to-batch consistency and control of the final drug product.

    --  Multiple papers were presented to the Endocrine Society indicating

        that estrogen receptor beta may have a role in cancer prevention -

        suggesting that Menerba may have an ultimate role in cancer treatment

        beyond its current proposed indication for menopausal hot flashes.

    --  Also presented at the Endocrine Society was a study describing the

        development of a neural model for thermoregulation in the brain,

        providing more specific scientific support for Menerba's mechanism of

        action and efficacy potential.

    --  Bionovo announced that further analysis of the data from its

        successfully completed phase 2 study of Menerba showed that Menerba

        was able to reduce "night awakenings" from menopausal hot flashes at a

        statistically significant level.  This sign of efficacy in the most

        debilitating aspect of hot flashes is further evidence that Menerba

        may provide an unmatched combination of safety and efficacy in

        comparison to other treatments being developed or currently on the

        market.





    BZL101 and other Cancer Drug Candidates



    --  A peer-reviewed study published in the journal Cancer Biology and

        Treatment, described the powerful and selective mechanism of action

        for BZL101 in cancer tumors.

    --  Another study was presented at American Association for Cancer

        Research (AACR) that detailed the unique mechanisms of action for two

        other Bionovo drug candidates for the treatment of cancer, BN107 and

        BN108.

    --  Results from a second clinical study of BZL101 in advanced breast

        cancer was presented at ASCO, indicating BZL101's favorable

        tolerability and safety profile, and exhibiting encouraging signs of

        positive efficacy.

        --  Further results from this study were presented to the Society of

            Integrative Oncology (SIO), where the abstract was the highest

            scoring abstract.

    --  Additional studies of BN107 and BN108 were presented at the San

        Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, indicating promising signs of

        potential efficacy for both cancer drug candidates.





    VG101



    --  Laboratory studies were presented at the 7th Annual Oxford

        International Conference on the Science of Botanicals & American

        Society of Pharmacognosy 4th Interim Meeting, describing the

        structural elucidation of active estrogen receptor beta selective

        compounds from VG101, Bionovo's drug candidate for vaginal atrophy.

        This structural elucidation is key to the development of the drug

        candidate's mechanism of action and intellectual property protection.

    --  In vivo safety and efficacy data were presented to the Endocrine

        Society, indicating VG101 may have superior clinical activity to

        existing drug products for the treatment of menopausal vaginal

        dryness.

    --  This data was further detailed to the North American Menopause Society

        (NAMS), indicating that VG101 may well provide superior efficacy and

        safety versus estrogen therapy.

About Bionovo, Inc.

Bionovo, Inc. is a pharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of safe and effective treatments for women's health and cancer, markets with significant unmet needs and billions in potential annual revenue. The company applies its expertise in the biology of menopause and cancer to design new drugs derived from botanical sources which have novel mechanisms of action. Based on the results of early and mid-stage clinical trials, Bionovo believes they have discovered new classes of drug candidates within their rich pipeline with the potential to be leaders in their markets. Bionovo is headquartered in Emeryville, California and is traded on the NASDAQ Capital Market under the symbol, "BNVI". For more information about Bionovo and its programs, visit: http://www.bionovo.com.

Forward Looking Statements

This release contains certain forward-looking statements relating to the business of Bionovo, Inc. that can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "believes," "expects," or similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, including uncertainties relating to product development, efficacy and safety, regulatory actions or delays, the ability to obtain or maintain patent or other proprietary intellectual property protection, market acceptance, physician acceptance, third party reimbursement, future capital requirements, competition in general and other factors that may cause actual results to be materially different from those described herein as anticipated, believed, estimated or expected. Certain of these risks and uncertainties are or will be described in greater detail in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which are available at http://www.sec.gov. Bionovo, Inc. is under no obligation (and expressly disclaims any such obligation) to update or alter its forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

    Company Contacts:



    Claire Fong

    Tom Chesterman

    Tel: 510.601.2000

    investor@bionovo.com



    Investor Contacts:



    Joe Diaz, Robert Blum

    Joe Dorame

    Lytham Partners, LLC

    Tel: 602.889.9700

    bnvi@lythampartners.com

SOURCE  Bionovo, Inc.