Geneva, Switzerland, 3 July 2012 – Addex Therapeutics (SIX:ADXN), a leading company pioneering allosteric modulation-based oral small molecule drug discovery and development, announced today the appointment of Dr. Graham Dixon to the newly created position of Chief Scientific Officer and Head of Research.  Dr. Dixon will report directly to Dr. Bharat Chowrira, CEO of Addex, and will be responsible for leading all aspects of research and non-clinical development activities at Addex.

“We are delighted to have Graham join the Addex team. Graham has a strong background and an impressive track record in small molecule pharmaceutical research and development. He has been responsible for the discovery of novel drugs and steering their development from basic science into clinical development, as well as bringing products through mid-stage proof-of-concept clinical trials.” stated Dr. Bharat Chowrira, CEO of Addex. “Addex’ strength lies in our leading allosteric modulation technology and the ability to leverage this platform to develop drug candidates against previously undruggable but important validated biological targets. Graham’s experience and R&D leadership will be instrumental as we execute on our core strategy and continue to build a robust proprietary pipeline of high value drug discovery and development programs and rapidly advancing these drug candidates towards the clinic” 

Dr. Dixon joins Addex with more than 20 years of experience in pharmaceutical research, most recently as Chief Scientific Officer at Galapagos NV. In this role, Dr. Dixon was responsible for all research & early development within the company in multiple therapeutic areas as well as the management of more than 260 scientific personnel across three sites in the Netherlands, Belgium and France. Prior to Galapagos, Dr. Dixon was Chief Scientific Officer at Entomed SA, a developer of natural anticancer and anti-infective agents. Dr. Dixon joined Entomed from a similar role at antifungal therapeutic company, F2G Ltd. Before joining F2G, Dr. Dixon held several roles at AstraZeneca starting as a project manager in anti-infective research and culminating in the role of Global Product Director in the oncology division. He started his career as Head of Biochemistry at Dowelanco (UK) Ltd. Dr. Dixon earned his PhD in biochemistry from the University of Swansea and a BSc in applied biology from the University of Bradford.

“I am excited about joining Addex, the recognized industry leader in allosteric modulation-based oral small molecule drug discovery and development,” said Dr. Dixon. “I look forward to building on the significant progress made by the world-class scientists at Addex and applying this powerful platform towards creating an attractive engine of innovative product candidates for the treatment of serious diseases and indications with a huge unmet medical need."

Addex Therapeutics (www.addextherapeutics.com) discovers and develops an emerging class of small molecule drugs, called allosteric modulators, which have the potential to be more specific and confer significant therapeutic advantages over conventional "orthosteric" small molecule or biological drugs. The Company uses its proprietary discovery platform to address receptors and other proteins that are recognized as attractive targets for modulation of important diseases with unmet medical needs. The Company's two lead products are being investigated in Phase 2 clinical testing: dipraglurant (ADX48621, an mGluR5 negative allosteric modulator or NAM) is being developed by Addex to treat Parkinson's disease levodopa-induced dyskinesia (PD-LID); and ADX71149 (mGluR2 positive allosteric modulator or PAM) is being developed by Addex’ partner Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc. to treat schizophrenia and anxiety seen in patients suffering from major depressive disorder. Addex also is advancing several preclinical programs including: GABA-BR PAM for overactive bladder, pain and other disorders; mGluR4 PAM for Parkinson's, MS, anxiety and other diseases; GLP1R PAM for type 2 diabetes; and mGluR2 NAM for treating Alzheimer's disease and depression. In addition, Addex has discovery programs to identify allosteric modulators of: receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) superfamily, including TrkB PAM for treating neurodegenerative diseases (e.g. Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Huntington's diseases); and TNF receptor superfamily, including TNFR1 NAM for inflammation (e.g. rheumatoid arthritis) and other diseases.

Mike Sinclair
Halsin Partners
Tel: +44 30 7318 2955
msinclair(at)halsin.com

Disclaimer: The foregoing release may contain forward-looking statements that can be identified by terminology such as "not approvable", "continue", "believes", "believe", "will", "remained open to exploring", "would", "could", or similar expressions, or by express or implied discussions regarding Addex Therapeutics, formerly known as, Addex Pharmaceuticals, its business, the potential approval of its products by regulatory authorities, or regarding potential future revenues from such products. Such forward-looking statements reflect the current views of Addex Therapeutics regarding future events, future economic performance or prospects, and, by their very nature, involve inherent risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, whether known or unknown, and/or any other factor that may materially differ from the plans, objectives, expectations, estimates and intentions expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements. Such may in particular cause actual results with allosteric modulators of mGluR2, mGluR4, mGluR5, GABABR, GLP1R, TNFR1, TrkB or other therapeutic targets to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such statements. There can be no guarantee that allosteric modulators of mGluR2, mGluR4, mGluR5, GABABR, GLP1R, TNFR1, TrkB or other therapeutics targets will be approved for sale in any market or by any regulatory authority. Nor can there be any guarantee that allosteric modulators of mGluR2, mGluR4, mGluR5, GABABR,  GLP1R, TNFR1, TrkB or other therapeutic targets will achieve any particular levels of revenue (if any) in the future. In particular, management's expectations regarding  allosteric modulators of mGluR2, mGluR4, mGluR5, GABABR, GLP1R, TNFR1, TrkB or other therapeutic targets could be affected by, among other things, unexpected actions by our partners, unexpected regulatory actions or delays or government regulation generally; unexpected clinical trial results, including unexpected new clinical data and unexpected additional analysis of existing clinical data; competition in general; government, industry and general public pricing pressures; the company's ability to obtain or maintain patent or other proprietary intellectual property protection. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those anticipated, believed, estimated or expected. Addex Therapeutics is providing the information in this press release as of this date and does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this press release as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required by applicable laws.