Pharmexa and the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Protein Research enter into a research collaboration

Summary: Pharmexa and the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Protein Research
(CPR) have entered into a research collaboration agreement to optimize and
implement Pharmexa's proprietary protein expression system for high throughput
protein production at the CPR to, systematically study human proteins of
medical relevance. 

Proteins constitute the machinery of life, carrying out a multitude of vital
biological functions.  When the human genome was sequenced, more than 20,000
genes were identified that could code for proteins. However, of all these
possible proteins, only relatively few have been extensively studied and
characterized. As proteins are the targets for >95% of all drugs, a better
understanding of what all these different proteins do could lead to
breakthrough discoveries in the treatment of many different diseases. This is
one of the main goals of the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Protein
Research (CPR) - which recently was established at the Faculty of Health
Sciences, University of Copenhagen - to systematically study protein function
in health and disease and to identify new targets for medical intervention. 

According to Michael Sundström, Managing Director of the CPR, “to understand
what a protein does, it is often necessary to produce it in sufficient
quantities to be studied. We plan to produce and characterize thousands of
different proteins, so it is also essential that we can produce them very
quickly. We believe that Pharmexa's expression system will be readily adaptable
to the fast screening methods used at the CPR and particularly useful for more
complex proteins that are not easy to produce using standard methods”. 

Over the past 10 years, Pharmexa has developed a proprietary protein expression
system utilizing stable insect cell lines. The system has been successfully
used to make high quality proteins for use in research and clinical trials. The
purpose of the collaboration is to evaluate and, if necessary, adapt the system
for the high throughput screening methods used at the CPR for the evaluation of
human proteins of potential medical relevance. 

Achim Kaufhold, CEO of Pharmexa says: “Our scientists have developed a robust
and unique expression system that is extremely useful for basic research as
well as the industrial production of proteins. The CPR is established to
conduct world class research into proteins of significant medical interest. We
are very pleased that they have chosen to work with our protein expression
system in this important endeavour.” 


The collaboration will not materially affect Pharmexa's financial guidance for
2008. 


 
Hørsholm, October 6, 2008


Achim Kaufhold
Chief Executive Officer

Additional information:
Claude Mikkelsen, Senior Vice President, Finance & Investor Relations, tel. +45
4516 2525 or +45 4060 2558 
Achim Kaufhold, Chief Executive Officer, tel +45 4516 2525

For the editors: Pharmexa A/S is a development stage company in the field of
active immunotherapy. 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. Collaborative agreements include H. Lundbeck
and Bavarian Nordic. With operations in Denmark and USA, Pharmexa employs
approximately 40 employees and is listed on the Copenhagen Stock Exchange under
the trading symbol PHARMX.