MIV-247 has been selected as a candidate drug and enters development for the treatment of neuropathic pain

Stockholm, Sweden – Medivir AB (OMX:MVIR) announced that MIV-247 has been
selected as a candidate drug (CD) from its cathepsin S inhibitor project for the
treatment of neuropathic pain, and is entering non-clinical development.

Approximately 25 million patients across the US, Europe and Japan suffer from
neuropathic pain, which includes diabetic neuropathy, post-herpetic neuralgia
and neuropathic low-back pain. Currently marketed drugs have limited efficacy
and poor side-effect profiles. Patients with neuropathic pain are therefore in
great need of new and efficacious therapies that can deliver sustainable pain
relief with improved tolerance and adverse event profiles.

MIV-247 is a potent and highly selective inhibitor of cathepsin S. Cathepsin S
has been shown to be an enzyme that is important for the maintenance of the
neuropathic pain state, through its action in releasing fractalkine (a pro
-inflammatory protein) in areas of the spinal cord important for pain sensation.
Compounds from Medivir’s cathepsin S inhibitor project, including MIV-247, have
shown good efficacy in experimental models of neuropathic pain, with no evidence
of tolerance induction in longer-term studies.

“We are very excited by the preclinical profile of MIV-247, which has shown a
high level of activity in preclinical models of neuropathic pain, attractive
pharmacokinetic properties, and an excellent non-clinical safety profile.
Patients with neuropathic pain are in urgent need of new treatment options to
manage their disease, and we look forward to the further development of this
compound as an exciting new approach for this condition” said Richard Bethell,
EVP Discovery Research, Medivir AB.

For more information please contact:
Rein Piir, EVP Corporate Affairs & IR
Mobile +46 708 537 292

About Medivir
Medivir is an emerging research-based pharmaceutical company focused on
infectious diseases. Medivir has world class expertise in polymerase and
protease drug targets and drug development which has resulted in a strong
infectious disease R&D portfolio. The Company’s key pipeline asset is
simeprevir, a novel protease inhibitor for the treatment of hepatitis C that is
being developed in collaboration with Janssen R&D Ireland. The company is also
working with research and development in other areas, such as bone disorders and
neuropathic pain.

Medivir has also a broad product portfolio with prescription pharmaceuticals in
the Nordics.

For more information about Medivir AB, please visit the Company’s website:
www.medivir.com
Medivir is a collaborative and agile pharmaceutical company with an R&D focus on
infectious diseases and a leading position in hepatitis C. We are passionate and
uncompromising in our mission to develop and commercialize innovative
pharmaceuticals that improve people’s lives.
 (http://www.medivir.com)