PX’Therapeutics and Alizé Pharma to collaborate on the development of a recombinant L-asparaginase.

GRENOBLE and ECULLY, France - October 21, 2008 - PX’Therapeutics SA (formerly Protein’eXpert) and the Alizé Pharma Group announce they have signed a partnership agreement for  the manufacturing of a recombinant L-asparaginase product owned and developed by Alizé Pharma as the ASPAREC® (1) program for the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) and other haematological malignancies.

According to the agreement, PX’Therapeutics will specifically handle the development of manufacturing processes and characterization methods. PX’Therapeutics will also be performing the production of preclinical and clinical protein batches for toxicology and Phase I/II studies. Financial terms were not disclosed.

"I am delighted with this new collaboration and believe that PX’Therapeutics’ recognized protein engineering and cGMP biomanufacturing expertise will benefit the ASPAREC® program;” said Thierry Abribat, President of the Alizé Pharma Group. “The ultimate goal of this project is to provide patients with an improved L-asparaginase product, an identified medical need for the treatment of ALL” he added.

"PX’Therapeutics is very pleased to collaborate with the Alizé Pharma team with its sound track record in drug development and to take part in the ASPAREC® therapeutic programme" declares Tristan Rousselle, Chief Executive Officer. "Since the creation of the company in 2000, we have always been investing in collaborative R&D projects to sustain our technological development strategy. As we are now more and more involved in the development of biotherapeutics for our clients, it is logical that we dedicate a part of our R&D efforts in the co-development of such therapeutic products”.

About the ASPAREC® program
Over the last 20 years, L-asparaginases have become an important part of the standard treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, the most frequent cancer in children, because the medical benefit of a serum deprivation in L-asparagine has been clearly established in these patients. Accordingly, the commercially available L-asparaginase preparations, all produced by extraction, are widely used in children, more and more in adults, and new clinical indications are currently being explored for this therapeutic class. Parallel to this market growth, new medical needs are emerging, favoring the development of new L-asparaginase products, with improved pharmaceutical, pharmacokinetic and immunological properties. The ASPAREC® (1) program is set to address the evolving needs of the patients by designing and developing an improved L-asparaginase product.

(1) ASPAREC® is a registred tradename filed and owned by Alizé Pharma II SAS.

About the Alizé Pharma Group
Founded in 2007, the Alizé Pharma Group (www.alz-pharma.com) is a group of biopharmaceutical companies specialized in the development of innovative therapeutics for the treatment of metabolic diseases and cancer. Alizé Pharma SAS is focused on the AZP-01 program, a family of unacylated ghrelin analogs for the treatment of type II diabetes, currently generating proof-of-concept clinical data. The most recently created Alizé Pharma II SAS is dedicated to the development of a recombinant L-asparaginase, the AZP-02 program, currently at the preclinical stage for the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, and to AZP-03, a program in the field of metabolism to be announced.

About PX’Therapeutics
Located in Grenoble and Lyon (France), PX’Therapeutics (www.px-therapeutics.com) provides integrated biotherapeutics and recombinant vaccines development and manufacturing contract services. Organized around three integrated service platforms (recombinant protein R&D, monoclonal antibody development, cGMP manufacturing), PX’Therapeutics offers custom programmes which may include murine antibody generation, humanization strategies, protein engineering, process development and small scale cGMP manufacturing services.

Over the past eight years, PX’Therapeutics has been extensively involved into the discovery, development and manufacturing of drug targets and therapeutic proteins with more than 500 projects performed. The company has thus gained substantial experience in the production of challenging proteins and developed trusted relationships with now more than 120 pharmaceutical, biotech and academic partners (European & American).

NB : PX’Therapeutics, formerly Protein’eXpert owns 100% of its sister companies : PX’Monoclonals and PX’Pharma. .