New promising results published on Pharmexa's PADRE® epitope in Alzheimer's vaccine

Summary: A group of US scientists have tested Pharmexa's PADRE® epitope in a
second generation prototype Alzheimer's vaccine. The results are published in
the recent edition of The Journal of Neuroscience. 

A group of scientists from the Institute of Molecular Medicine at Huntington
Beach (California) and the Institute of Brain Aging and Dementia at the
University of California has published new pre-clinical data on an experimental
second generation Alzheimer's vaccine incorporating Pharmexa's proprietary
PADRE® epitope. The results are published in the recent edition of the Journal
of Neuroscience (27(46):12721-12731). 

The researchers have previously described promising results with a first
generation vaccine using Pharmexa's PADRE® epitope. The new second generation
vaccine, a combination of two copies of a particular fragment of the Abeta
peptide and PADRE®, completely eliminated potentially harmful auto-reactive
T-cell responses and induced antibody responses in a transgenic mouse model of
Alzheimers disease. Equally important, a positive correlation between the
concentration of antibodies generated and the reduction in Abeta plaques in the
brain was observed. This reduction was not associated with adverse events, such
as T-cell or macrophage infiltration in the brain. 

These independent results once confirm the versatility of Pharmexa's PADRE®
epitope across a broad range of applications. The data also confirm Pharmexa's
hypotheses that a safe and effective Alzheimer's vaccine may be developed using
dominant helper cell epitopes such as PADRE® that will alleviate the side
effects observed with earlier Abeta vaccines. 

The Abeta peptide is believed to have a central role in the onset and
progression of Alzheimer's disease. Pharmexa, in collaboration with H.
Lundbeck, as well as other pharmaceutical and biotech companies, has therefore
been targeting the Abeta peptide for a therapeutic Alzheimer's vaccine. 


Hørsholm, November 21, 2007


Jakob Schmidt
Chief Executive Officer

Additional information: Jakob Schmidt, Chief Executive Officer, telephone +45
4516 2525 
Claude Mikkelsen, Vice President, Corporate Affairs and Communication,
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 and
chronic diseases, 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 and
Bavarian Nordic. With operations in Denmark, Norway and USA, Pharmexa employs
approximately 105 people and is listed on the Copenhagen Stock Exchange under
the trading symbol PHARMX.