Pharmexa and Affitech enter into an exclusive license agreement to promote Diabody technology

Summary: Pharmexa and Affitech A/S, a Norwegian company specializing in human 
therapeutic monoclonal antibody discovery and development, have entered into a
license agreement to promote a single chain bi-specific antibody (diabody)
technology to third parties for further product development, as well as to
utilize the technology for Affitech's own research. 

Pharmexa has granted a worldwide exclusive license to Affitech AS for certain
intellectual property rights (IPR) to recombinant antibody-like proteins known
as bi-specific single chain antibodies, or diabodies. Diabodies have unique
attributes making them attractive candidates for a variety of therapeutic
applications. Under the terms of the agreement, Affitech may conduct
IND-enabling research activities and will sub-license the IPR to third parties
to conduct relevant activities leading to the manufacturing and
commercialization of licensed products. Pharmexa and Affitech will share all
proceeds from such third party agreements. 

Pharmexa's CEO Jakob Schmidt says: “Affitech has extensive expertise in the
antibody field and the capability to add significant value to our diabody
technology, making it very attractive to potential partners for product
development.” 

Affitech CEO Martin Welshof sees the agreement as further strengthening of
Affitech's innovative antibody technology and IPR portfolio. “Because of the
built-in dual specificity, Diabodies are extremely interesting in the field of
cancer research. Therefore, we see them as having great potential in our chosen
field of oncology therapeutics. Furthermore, we have built up comprehensive
knowledge about the other relevant players in the antibody field of research
and development likely to be interested in taking out a license enabling the
development, manufacturing and commercialization of Diabodies”, Dr. Welschof
commented. 

Briefly on single-chain diabodies
The single-chain bi-specific diabody technology was acquired by Pharmexa as
part of the patent estate purchased from Vectron Therapeutics AG in December
2004. Single-chain diabodies are recombinant proteins that consist of portions
of two different antibodies of different specificities that are connected by
special linker sequences. Single-chain diabodies possess an improved stability
compared to other recombinant bispecific antibody formats as well as favorable
production characteristics. Thus, single-chain diabodies are attractive as
therapeutic agents. 


 
Hørsholm, April 3, 2007


Jakob Schmidt
Chief Executive Officer


Additional information: Jakob Schmidt, Chief Executive Officer, telephone +45
4516 2525 
Claude Mikkelsen, Head of Investor Relations, telephone +45 4516 2525 or +45
4060 2558 


Note to editors: Pharmexa A/S is a leading company in the field of active
immunotherapy and vaccines for the treatment of cancer, serious chronic and
infectious diseases. Pharmexa's proprietary technology platforms are broadly
applicable, allowing the company to address critical targets in cancer,
rheumatoid arthritis, bone degeneration and Alzheimer's disease, as well as
serious infectious diseases such as HIV, influenza, hepatitis and malaria. Its
leading programs are GV1001, a peptide vaccine that has entered phase III
trials in pancreatic cancer and phase II trials in liver cancer, and HIV and
hepatitis vaccines in phase I/II. Collaborative agreements include H. Lundbeck,
Innogenetics, IDM Pharma, ImmunoVaccine Technologies and Bavarian Nordic. With
operations in Denmark, Norway and USA, Pharmexa employs approximately 100
people and is listed on the Copenhagen Stock Exchange under the trading symbol
PHARMX. 


Affitech is a privately held human therapeutic antibody discovery and
development company with headquarters and R&D facilities in Oslo, Norway and
its  US subsidiary in the San Francisco Bay Area. The Company's current disease
focus is oncology and it utilizes two discrete but unique approaches for the
discovery of fully human antibodies - (i) Molecule Based Antibody Discovery,
and (ii) Cell Based Antibody Discovery. Molecule Based Antibody Discovery
involves proprietary PhagemidScreeN and AffiScreeN™ technologies and uses
validated targets for discovery purpose. Cell Based Antibody Discovery is based
on CBAS™ technology, which is a “reverse-screening” approach for discovering
antibodies and their cognate targets utilizing disease-specific cells. Several
of the Company's proprietary product candidates currently in development were
generated by  CBAS™. Affitech also sells its proprietary Protein L product line
for the purification of antibody and antibody fragments. Affitech offers
collaborators a flexible business model and very competitive price structure
with low royalty stacking. The Company has concluded deals with commercial
organizations such as XOMA, NatImmune, Peregrine, Viventia, Dyax, and others.
Further information at www.affitech.com.