EANS-News: DEWB Investment Holding NOXXON Pharma AG Achieves Milestone in Partnership with Eli Lilly and Company

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Jena/Berlin, Germany, December 3, 2009 (euro adhoc) - NOXXON Pharma AG (NOXXON),
the biopharmaceutical company focusing on the development of novel medicines
based on its unique proprietary Spiegelmer® technology, announced today the
achievement of an important milestone in its drug discovery and development
partnership with Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY). NOXXON´s successful
identification of a Spiegelmer® with picomolar affinity and high selectivity for
its target met contractually specified milestone criteria and triggers a payment
of an undisclosed amount. Lilly and NOXXON entered into the agreement last year
to discover and develop Spiegelmers® for the treatment of migraine.

NOXXON´s Chief Scientific Officer, Dr. Sven Klussmann, commented: "The rapid
delivery of what appears to be an immensely potent compound illustrates the
power of the Spiegelmer® platform and represents the first major landmark in our
partnership. We now look forward to Lilly applying its substantial expertise in
the field of migraine in taking the Spiegelmer® to the next level."

William Chin, M.D., vice president of discovery and clinical research at Lilly,
added: "NOXXON´s identification of the lead compound is an outstanding milestone
achievement. The use of Spiegelmers® for the potential treatment of migraine
headache is a novel and promising approach. We are excited to continue our work
with NOXXON to bring Spiegelmers® to our patients as soon as possible."
Following the completion of the discovery work, the identified Spiegelmer® will
undergo pharmacological testing and pre-clinical development. Lilly is
responsible for the pre-clinical and clinical development as well as the
commercialization of the Spiegelmer® product, provided the product is approved
by regulatory authorities.

About Spiegelmers®
Spiegelmers® (L-aptamers) are chemical entities based on synthetic mirror-image
oligonucleotides which are highly selective for their pharmacological target and
potent inhibitors of target function. They combine the benefits of small
molecule drugs and biopharmaceuticals. Due to their unique mirror image
configuration Spiegelmers® are not metabolized and do not hybridize with native
nucleic acids. Unlike conventional nucleic acids, Spiegelmers® do not activate
the innate immune response via toll-like receptors and they showed an
exceptionally favorable immunogenicity profile in pre-clinical testing.

About NOXXON
Berlin-based NOXXON Pharma AG is a clinical stage biotechnology company focusing
on the development of Spiegelmers® for the treatment of inflammatory diseases
and hematological indications. NOXXON is in possession of a broad patent estate
and has access to a readily scalable GMP production. In addition to its in-house
programs, NOXXON discovers and develops Spiegelmers® in collaboration with
partners from the pharmaceutical industry, including Lilly, Hoffmann La-Roche,
and Pfizer. The business strategy of NOXXON is to broaden this range of
collaborations through co-development and licensing agreements for the
proprietary clinical and pre-clinical products as well as technology-based
multi-target partnerships. Currently the company has two compounds in clinical
development. The declared goal of NOXXON is to establish its
oligonucleotide-based drug discovery platform (Spiegelmers®) as the leading
'scaffold' technology to create new chemical entities with superior properties.
NOXXON´s investors are TVM Capital, Sofinnova Partners, Edmond de Rothschild
Investment Partners, Deutsche Effecten- und Wechsel-Beteiligungsgesellschaft
(DEWB), Seventure Partners, Dow Venture Capital, Dieckell Group, FCP OP MEDICAL
BioHealth-Trends, IBG Risikokapitalfonds, VC Fonds Berlin, and others.

Website: http://www.noxxon.com

General contact:
Emmanuelle Delabre
NOXXON Pharma AG
Max-Dohrn-Strasse 8-10
10589 Berlin, Germany
Phone: + 49-30-726247-100
FAX: + 49-30-726247-225
Email: [email protected]

Further inquiry note:
Marco Scheidler
Tel.: +49 (0) 3641 573-3600
E-Mail: [email protected]
end of announcement euro adhoc
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issuer: Deutsche Effecten- und Wechsel-Beteiligungsges. AG
Leutragraben 1
D-07743 Jena
phone: +49 (0)3641 573 3600
FAX: +49 (0)3641 573 3610
mail: [email protected]
WWW: http://www.dewb-vc.com
sector: Financial & Business Services
ISIN: DE0008041005
indexes: CDAX, Classic All Share, Prime All Share
stockmarkets: regulated dealing/prime standard: Frankfurt, free trade: Berlin,
Stuttgart, München
language: English

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