SAN DIEGO, CA--(Marketwire - May 31, 2012) - La Jolla Pharmaceutical Company (OTCQB: [ LJPC ]) (PINKSHEETS: [ LJPC ]) (the "Company" and "La Jolla") announced today that the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has issued patent number 8,187,642 covering compositions of modified pectins. The patent provides proprietary protection of multiple forms of modified pectin molecules until 2025.

"We are pleased to receive this patent protection which broadens and further extends our intellectual property position for modified pectins," said Dr. George F. Tidmarsh, President and CEO of La Jolla Pharmaceutical Company. "The issuance of this patent comes at a strategically important time for us as we prepare to move forward with clinical trials of our lead compound, GCS-100, in oncology, kidney disease and organ transplant indications."

La Jolla Pharmaceutical Company is building a pipeline of drug candidates based on modified citrus pectins, which are polysaccharides chemically related to the pectins found in plant cell walls. Modified citrus pectins have the ability to bind and sequester galectin-3, over-expression of which has been implicated in a number of human diseases including cancer and chronic organ failure. The modified pectin compositions described in patent '642 may have the advantages of improved therapeutic potency, purity and composition uniformity.

The Company's intellectual property portfolio includes two additional patents (one issued and one pending) describing manufacturing of modified pectins and one use patent (pending) covering the method of reducing the rate of cancer growth by treating with a galectin inhibitor.

About La Jolla Pharmaceutical Company
La Jolla Pharmaceutical Company is a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the development of treatments that significantly improve outcomes in patients with life-threatening diseases. GCS-100, the Company's product candidate, is a first-in-class inhibitor of galectin-3, a novel molecular target implicated in cancer and chronic organ failure.

Forward Looking Statement Safe Harbor
This document contains forward-looking statements as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements relate to future events or our future results of operations. These statements are only predictions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause actual results to be materially different from these forward-looking statements. The Company cautions readers not to place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they were made. Certain of these risks, uncertainties, and other factors are described in greater detail in the Company's filings from time to time with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), all of which are available free of charge on the SEC's web site at [ http://www.sec.gov ]. These risks include, but are not limited to, risks relating to the development of GCS-100, the success and timing of future preclinical and clinical studies of this compound, and potential indications for which GCS-100 may be developed. Subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements attributable to the Company or to persons acting on its behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements set forth in the Company's reports filed with the SEC. The Company expressly disclaims any intent to update any forward-looking statements.