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ExonHit Therapeutics is a worldleading company in developing novel pharmaceuticals and diagnostics from its unique understanding of alternative RNA splicing, the process by which a single gene can lead to several proteins. The company's proprietary gene profiling technology DATASÔ, allows the detection of the diseaserelevant changes in mRNA population resulting from alternative splicing events, thus providing the most valuable biological information about the causes of pathology. In order to fully capitalize on its cuttingedge DATASÔ technology, ExonHit Therapeutics has organized its activities into four business units: , InHouse Therapeutics The company is concentrating on the treatment of cancer and neurodegenerative diseases, and has four compounds under development: EHT 0201 and EHT 0202 for the treatment of ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) and other neurodegenerative diseases, and EHT 0101 for cancer. EHT 0201 entered clinical trials in October 2002. , Collaborative Therapeutics , The company has initiated two major R&D programs, with Allergan in neurological diseases and ophthalmology, and IDEC Pharmaceuticals to develop antibody therapies for prostate cancer. , Diagnostics and Pharmacogenomics , The company has entered a collaboration with Roche to develop a diagnostic test that can identify BSE in living animals. ExonHit Therapeutics is also developing a series of molecular cancer diagnostic tools. The company is collaborating with bioMérieux to develop blood tests for breast cancer detection. , Profiling , ExonHit Therapeutics has marketed a predictive toxicology array (SafeHitÔ) to assist the pharmaceutical industry to concentrate its resources on the most promising compounds. ExonHit Therapeutics, which was founded in 1997, has its headquarters and laboratories in Paris, France and its US operations are based in Gaithersburg, MD. The company has 75 employees worldwide and has raised a total of ,47 million(US$42 million).