EANS-News: DEWB investment holding NOXXON initiates Phase I of NOX-H94 for Anemia of Chronic Disease

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Company Information

Subtitle: First-in-man for third Spiegelmer® product

Berlin, Germany, 6 September 2011 (euro adhoc) - NOXXON Pharma today
announced the initiation of a Phase I clinical trial for NOX-H94, the
Company´s third compound to enter the clinic. NOX-H94 is a
Spiegelmer® designed to treat anemia of chronic disease by targeting
the peptide hormone hepcidin, the key regulator of iron metabolism.
Hepcidin is up-regulated by acute and chronic inflammatory reactions
resulting in "iron restriction", which means that iron is blocked
inside cellular stores and not available for hemoglobin synthesis.
This is in contrast to "iron deficiency", in which iron stores are
depleted.

Sujects will first be administered escalating single doses of NOX-H94
and will then be tested with multiple doses. Both the intravenous and
sub-cutaneous routes of administration will be tested. The primary
objective of the study is to assess the safety and tolerability of
NOX-H94 with a secondary objective to test
pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic responses to the compound.

Mr. Iain Buchanan, Chief Executive Officer of NOXXON, commented: "The
recent entry of NOX-H94 into human trials marks the third Spiegelmer®
product in clinical development and underlines the transition that
NOXXON has made to a company with clinical-stage assets. Preliminary
data arising from this study suggest that NOX-H94 is safe, well
tolerated and acts in a manner as predicted by preclinical studies.
NOXXON will provide further updates on the progress of NOX-H94 and
other compounds in its pipeline later in the year."

The underlying causes of anemia of chronic disease are mainly
infections, cancer, autoimmune diseases and chronic kidney disease.
Estimated prevalence reaches approximately 70% in certain cancers and
autoimmune diseases and constitutes an area of significant medical
need. In this US, more than 1 million people are estimated to have
anemia of chronic disease.

About NOXXON Pharma AG NOXXON Pharma is a biopharmaceutical company
pioneering the development of a new class of proprietary therapeutics
called Spiegelmers®. Spiegelmers® are the chemically synthesized,
nonimmunogenic alternative to antibodies. NOXXON has a diversified
portfolio of clinical stage Spiegelmer® therapeutics:

• NOX-E36 targets the pro-inflammatory chemokine MCP-1 (CCL2) and is
currently in Phase Ib for complications of type 2 diabetes such as
nephropathy. • NOX-A12 targets SDF-1 (CXCL12), a chemokine mediator
of metastasis and resistance to chemotherapy in cancer, and is
currently in Phase I. • NOX-H94 targets hepcidin, the key regulator
of iron metabolism and mediator of iron restriction in anemia of
chronic disease, and is currently in Phase I.

The Spiegelmer® platform provides the Company with powerful and
unique discovery capabilities, which have generated a number of
additional leads under preclinical investigation. Located in Berlin,
Germany, NOXXON is a well-financed mature biotech company with a
strong syndicate of international investors, approx. 60 employees and
a highly experienced management team. For more information, please
visit: www.noxxon.com

About NOX-H94 NOX-H94 is a Spiegelmer compound targeted at the
iron-regulating protein hepcidin. Hepcidin is the master regulator of
iron homeostasis via its effect on ferroportin, the only known iron
export protein. Cytokine-induced synthesis of hepcidin plays a
crucial role in macrophage iron retention, which underlies the anemia
of inflammation by limiting the availability of iron for erythroid
progenitor cells. Patients with anemia of inflammation display an
impaired response to erythropoietin (EPO). The compound is a
44-nucleotide L-RNA oligonucleotide linked to 40 kDa PEG. Preclinical
studies have demonstrated that this compound inhibits IL-6 induced
anemia in monkeys and has similar pharmacokinetics to other
Spieglemer® compounds. The compound can be administered intravenously
or subcutaneously. NOXXON receives grant support within the program
KMU-innovativ from the German Federal Ministry of Education and
Research (BMBF) for the preclinical development and the
first-in-human clinical trial with NOX-H94.

References Gary J. Vanasse and Nancy Berliner (2010) Anemia in
Elderly Patients: An Emerging Problem for the 21st Century,
Hematology, 2010:271-5). Guenter Weiss, M.D., and Lawrence T.
Goodnough, M.D., (2005) Anemia of Chronic Disease, N Engl J Med 2005;
352:1011-1023.

Contact:
NOXXON Pharma AG
Emmanuelle Delabre
T: +49-30-726247-100
edelabre@noxxon.com

College Hill Life Sciences
Dr. Robert Mayer
T: +49 (0)89 57001806
robert.mayer@collegehill.com

Further inquiry note:
Marco Scheidler
Tel.: +49 (0) 3641 573-3600
E-Mail: marco.scheidler@dewb-vc.com

end of announcement euro adhoc
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company: Deutsche Effecten- und Wechsel-Beteiligungsges. AG
Leutragraben 1
D-07743 Jena
phone: +49 (0)3641 573 3600
FAX: +49 (0)3641 573 3610
mail: ir@dewb-vc.com
WWW: http://www.dewb-vc.com
sector: Financial & Business Services
ISIN: DE0008041005
indexes:
stockmarkets: free trade: Berlin, Stuttgart, München, Open Market / Entry
Standard: Frankfurt
language: English