Cleveland BioLabs Publishes New Insights Into Mechanism of Action of Curaxins, Extending Their Clinical Potential

BUFFALO, NY--(Marketwire - November 18, 2009) - Cleveland BioLabs, Inc. (NASDAQ: CBLI) today announced that a breakthrough discovery into the mechanism of action of the Company's first generation Curaxin anticancer compounds was published in an international health science journal, Cell Cycle (Neznanov et al., Cell Cycle 8:23, 1-11; December 1, 2009).

The published study examined the ability of the Company's prototype Curaxin (CBLC102, or quinacrine) to inhibit heat shock response, a major adaptive pro-survival pathway that rescues cells from stressful conditions involving accumulation of misfolded proteins (known as proteotoxic stress). Tumor cells typically become dependent on constitutive activity of this salvaging mechanism making them selectively susceptible to its inhibitors, especially if applied in combination with certain cancer therapies provoking proteotoxic stress.

Cleveland BioLabs Chief Scientific Officer and co-corresponding author, Andrei Gudkov, Ph.D., D. Sci., commented, "We are very excited by the prospective development path defined by the published results. The potential use of Curaxins as adjuvants to cancer therapies inducing proteotoxic stress, such as bortezomib (Velcade®) or thermotherapy, opens a whole new avenue of potential treatment options that may broaden the spectrum of responding tumors by cutting off an escape mechanism. We are strongly encouraged by these results and believe that they further support the potential of our lead next generation Curaxin compound, CBLC137."

An accompanying commentary published by leaders in this field of research, the Signal Transduction and Molecular Pharmacology Team of the Cancer Research UK Centre for Cancer Therapeutics at The Institute of Cancer Research, Haddow Laboratories (de Billy et al., Cell Cycle 8:23, 1-3; December 1, 2009), noted, "Inhibition of the HSF1 stress pathway has many potential advantages for the treatment of cancer and can be seen as part of a general strategy to target the critical stress pathway dependence of malignant cells, as well as other crucial cancer cell dependencies and addictions."

The Cell Cycle publication may be found online at: http://www.landesbioscience.com/journals/cc/article/10179/

About Cleveland BioLabs, Inc.

Cleveland BioLabs, Inc. is a drug discovery and development company leveraging its proprietary discoveries around programmed cell death to develop treatments for cancer and protection of normal tissues from exposure to radiation and other stresses. The Company has strategic partnerships with the Cleveland Clinic, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, ChemBridge Corporation and the Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute. To learn more about Cleveland BioLabs, Inc., please visit the company's website at http://www.cbiolabs.com.

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements reflect management's current expectations, as of the date of this press release, and involve certain risks and uncertainties. The Company's actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of various factors. Some of the factors that could cause future results to materially differ from the recent results or those projected in forward-looking statements include the "Risk Factors" described in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 30, 2009.

Contact Information: Contact: Rachel Levine Director Corporate Development & Communications Cleveland BioLabs, Inc. T: (646) 284-9439 E: rlevine@cbiolabs.com