EpiCept Earns Milestone Payment Due to Progress in Phase II Trial for Azixa(TM) in Melanoma Metastases

EpiCept Earns Milestone Payment Due to Progress in Phase II Trial for Azixa(TM)
in Melanoma Metastases

    TARRYTOWN, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 6, 2008--Regulatory News:

    EpiCept Corporation (Nasdaq and OMX Nordic Exchange: EPCT) today
announced that it has earned a milestone payment from Myriad Genetics,
Inc., for progress due to patient dosing in a Phase II trial being
conducted by Myriad for Azixa(TM) (MPC-6827) in melanoma that has
spread to the brain. Azixa is an apoptosis inducer with vascular
disrupting activity licensed as part of a series of compounds by
EpiCept to Myriad as part of an exclusive, worldwide development and
commercialization agreement.

    The milestone payment is in conjunction with progress made in a
Phase II trial of Azixa in patients with melanoma. Myriad had
previously announced the initiation of two additional Phase II trials
for Azixa in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer that has spread
to the brain and glioblastoma multiforme brain cancer."We are pleased at the progress Myriad has made with Azixa and the
promise it holds for cancer patients," stated Jack Talley, President
and Chief Executive Officer. "In addition, we believe our partnership
with Myriad and the benefits that it has afforded us demonstrate the
value of our approach of supporting our internal discovery and
development efforts through strategic industry alliances."

    Myriad is responsible for the worldwide development and
commercialization of Azixa and any drug candidate that is developed
from the series of compounds licensed by EpiCept to Myriad in 2003.
The agreement requires that Myriad make future licensing and milestone
payments to EpiCept, as well as pay a portion of any sublicensing
income and pay a royalty on product sales. In addition to the
milestone payment announced today, EpiCept will next earn a separate
milestone payment upon the initiation of a Phase III clinical trial.

    Myriad has completed two Phase 1 clinical trials of Azixa in a
total of 66 patients, one in patients with advanced or metastatic
cancers and the other in patients with known brain metastases. In
Phase I data previously reported by Myriad, Azixa appeared to have a
biological effect on patients' cancers from many different primary
tumors, including non-small-cell lung cancer, which is consistent with
the mechanism of the drug candidate.

    Azixa is one of two compounds in clinical trials discovered
through EpiCept's Anti-cancer Screening Apoptosis Program (ASAP).
EPC2407, a novel small molecule vascular disruption agent and
apoptosis inducer for the treatment of cancer patients with advanced,
solid tumors and lymphomas, is currently in Phase I clinical
development by EpiCept. Advancement of EPC2407 in clinical trials to
Phase Ib combination studies is planned to initiate in 2008.

    About EpiCept's ASAP Technology

    Cancer cells often exhibit unchecked growth caused by the
disabling or absence of the natural process of programmed cell death,
which is called apoptosis. Apoptosis is normally triggered to destroy
a cell from within when it outlives its purpose or it is seriously
damaged. One of the most promising approaches in the fight against
cancer is to selectively induce apoptosis in cancer cells, thereby
checking, and perhaps reversing, the improper cell growth.

    EpiCept's proprietary apoptosis screening technology can
efficiently identify new cancer drug candidates and molecular targets
that selectively induce apoptosis in cancer cells through the use of
chemical genetics and its proprietary live cell high-throughput
caspase-3 screening technology. Chemical genetics is a research
approach investigating the effect of small molecule drug candidates on
the cellular activity of a protein, enabling researchers to determine
the protein's function. Using this approach with its proprietary
caspase-3 screening technology, EpiCept researchers can focus their
investigation on the cellular activity of small molecule drug
candidates and their relationship to apoptosis.

    This combination of chemical genetics and caspase-3 screening
technology allows EpiCept's researchers to discover and rapidly test
the effect of small molecules on pathways and molecular targets
crucial to apoptosis, and gain insights into their potential as new
anticancer agents. This screening technology is particularly versatile
and can be adapted for almost any cell type that can be cultured, as
well as measure caspase activation inside multiple cell types (e.g.,
cancer cells, immune cells, or cell lines from different organ systems
or genetically engineered cells). This allows researchers to find
potential drug candidates that are selective for specific cancer
types, which may help identify candidates that provide increased
therapeutic benefit and reduced toxicity.

    EpiCept has identified several families of compounds with
potentially novel mechanisms that induce apoptosis in cancer cells.
Several compounds from within these families have progressed to lead
drug candidate status with proven pre-clinical efficacies in tumor
models and identified molecular targets.

    About EpiCept Corporation

    EpiCept is focused on unmet needs in the treatment of pain and
cancer. EpiCept has a staged portfolio of pharmaceutical product
candidates with several pain therapies in late-stage clinical trials,
and a lead oncology compound (for acute myeloid leukemia, or AML) with
demonstrated efficacy in a Phase III trial; a marketing authorization
application for this compound has been submitted in Europe. EpiCept is
based in Tarrytown, N.Y., and its research and development team in San
Diego is pursuing a drug discovery program focused on novel approaches
to apoptosis.

    Forward-Looking Statements

    This news release and any oral statements made with respect to the
information contained in this news release, contains forward-looking
statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements include statements
which express plans, anticipation, intent, contingency, goals,
targets, future development and are otherwise not statements of
historical fact. These statements are based on EpiCept's current
expectations and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could
cause actual results or developments to be materially different from
historical results or from any future results expressed or implied by
such forward-looking statements. Factors that may cause actual results
or developments to differ materially include: the risks associated
with our need to raise additional financing to continue to meet our
capital needs and our ability to continue as a going concern, the risk
that Ceplene(R) will not receive regulatory approval or marketing
authorization in the EU or that any appeal of an adverse decision will
not be successful, the risk that Ceplene(R), if approved, will not
achieve significant commercial success, the risk that Myriad's
development of Azixa(TM) will not be successful, the risk that
Azixa(TM) will not receive regulatory approval or achieve significant
commercial success, the risk that we will not receive any significant
payments under our agreement with Myriad, the risk that the
development of our other apoptosis product candidates will not be
successful, the risk that our ASAP technology will not yield any
successful product candidates, the risk that clinical trials for NP-1
or EPC2407 will not be successful, the risk that NP-1 or EPC2407 will
not receive regulatory approval or achieve significant commercial
success, the risk that our other product candidates that appeared
promising in early research and clinical trials do not demonstrate
safety and/or efficacy in larger-scale or later stage clinical trials,
the risk that we will not obtain approval to market any of our product
candidates, the risks associated with dependence upon key personnel,
the risks associated with reliance on collaborative partners and
others for further clinical trials, development, manufacturing and
commercialization of our product candidates; the cost, delays and
uncertainties associated with our scientific research, product
development, clinical trials and regulatory approval process; our
history of operating losses since our inception; the highly
competitive nature of our business; risks associated with litigation;
risks associated with prior material weaknesses in our internal
controls; and risks associated with our ability to protect our
intellectual property. These factors and other material risks are more
fully discussed in EpiCept's periodic reports, including its reports
on Forms 8-K, 10-Q and 10-K and other filings with the U.S. Securities
and Exchange Commission. You are urged to carefully review and
consider the disclosures found in EpiCept's filings which are
available at www.sec.gov or at www.epicept.com. You are cautioned not
to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, any of
which could turn out to be wrong due to inaccurate assumptions,
unknown risks or uncertainties or other risk factors.

    *Azixa is a registered trademark of Myriad Genetics, Inc.

    EPCT-GEN


    CONTACT: EpiCept Corporation
             Robert W. Cook, 914-606-3500
             rcook@epicept.com
             or
             For Media:
             Feinstein Kean Healthcare
             Greg Kelley, 617-577-8110
             gregory.kelley@fkhealth.com
             or
             For Investors:
             Lippert/Heilshorn & Associates
             Kim Sutton Golodetz, 212-838-3777
             kgolodetz@lhai.com
             or
             Bruce Voss, 310-691-7100
             bvoss@lhai.com