Geneva, Switzerland, 10 December 2010 – Allosteric modulation company Addex Pharmaceuticals (SIX:ADXN) announced today that the company has been awarded EuropaBio’s Most Innovative SME Award. This is the first time that the award has been presented and it attracted applications by 32 companies from 12 countries representing all sectors of the biotech industry.

“We are honored to be the first ever recipients of this new EuropaBio innovation award. At Addex, we are building a sustainable business based on technology that brings a new kind of chemistry to industrial drug discovery efforts. By improving discovery productivity, a key bottleneck hindering the pharmaceutical industry, we may be able to address some of key obstacles that have prevented development of effective treatments for many diseases, including Parkinson’s and schizophrenia, for which our lead products are about to enter Phase II clinical evaluation,” explained Dr. Vincent Mutel, CEO of Addex.

“Addex showcases the critical role of European SMEs as a booster of knowledge and understanding of the diseases that are still a major unmet medical need in Europe.  Addex has pioneered an extremely innovative solution to address important therapeutic areas such as Parkinson’s disease, schizophrenia, endometriosis and benign prostatic hyperplasia,” Andrea Rappagliosi, EuropaBio Chairman said.

Dr. Mutel continued: “We are working in partnership with some of the largest pharmaceutical companies, such as Merck & Co., Inc. and Johnson & Johnson, to get our products through clinical evaluation and hopefully to patients. This industry award provides additional validation and recognition of our innovative approach.”

Small molecule allosteric modulators represent an unexploited kind of chemistry that is different from traditional small molecule drugs and which may compete with protein-based drugs. Orally available allosteric modulators can offer multiple competitive advantages over classical drugs - both small molecule and protein therapeutics. Most importantly, they can be more specific for their target receptor in the body, while at the same time, offering more precise control over receptor function. They can do this because they bind to cell surface receptors at a different site than traditional drugs. Although allosteric binding sites offer greater control, molecules that bind them cannot be identified using conventional high throughput screening techniques. Addex has assembled an allostery-biased chemical library and proprietary high-throughput screening assays, which make possible industrial scale discovery of allosteric modulator drugs.

Addex Pharmaceuticals (www.addexpharma.com) discovers and develops allosteric modulators for human health. The company is focused on using its proprietary discovery platform to target cell surface receptors that are well recognized as having therapeutic potential for treating diseases of the central nervous system, metabolic disorders or inflammation. Subject to regulatory approvals, several Phase II clinical trials are expected to start soon for two lead products: ADX48621 and ADX71149. ADX48621 is an mGluR5 negative allosteric modulator (NAM), which will be tested in Parkinson’s disease levodopa-induced dyskinesia (PD-LID) and, separately, non-Parkinsonian patients suffering from dystonia, a movement disorder also observed in PD. ADX71149 is an mGluR2 positive allosteric modulator (PAM), which has potential for treatment of schizophrenia, anxiety and other indications. ADX71149 is licensed to Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc., a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson. Other products nearing the clinic include: ADX71943, a GABA-B receptor PAM with potential for chronic pain; and ADX68692, a follicle stimulating hormone receptor (FSHR) NAM, with potential for endometriosis and benign prostatic hyperplasia; and, mGluR2 NAM for Alzheimer’s disease. In addition, Merck & Co., Inc. has licensed rights to two preclinical programs: mGluR4 PAM for Parkinson's disease and mGluR5 PAM for schizophrenia. Preclinical discovery stage programs include: GLP1R PAM; IL1R1 NAM; and TNFR1 NAM.

Chris Maggos
Business Development & Communication
Addex Pharmaceuticals
+41 22 884 15 11
chris.maggos(at)addexpharma.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 Pharmaceuticals Ltd, 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 Pharmaceuticals Ltd 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, mGluR7 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, mGluR7 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, mGluR7 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, mGluR7 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 Pharmaceuticals Ltd 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.