Rexahn Pharmaceuticals Secures Approval in Europe to Conduct a First-in-Human Trial of RX-3117 in Solid Tumors

ROCKVILLE, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Rexahn Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE Amex: RNN), a clinical stage pharmaceutical company developing and commercializing oncology and CNS therapeutics, today announced that it has secured Hungarian Regulatory Authority and Ethics Committee approval for Rexahn’s initial Clinical Trial Application (CTA). This allows Rexahn to initiate an exploratory first-in-human Phase I clinical trial of RX-3117.

RX-3117 is a small molecule antimetabolite for the treatment of solid tumors.

“Preclinical studies demonstrate RX-3117 to have exciting anti-cancer properties, and we look forward to moving this compound into clinical development,” said Rick Soni, President and COO of Rexahn. “We will continue to develop RX-3117, which has potential therapeutic applications in a broad range of cancers, including colon, lung and pancreatic cancer.”

In September 2009, Rexahn entered into a commercialization and development agreement with Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Limited for RX-3117. Under the agreement, Rexahn is eligible to receive development, regulatory and sales milestone payments, as well as royalties on net sales worldwide.

About RX-3117

RX-3117 is a small molecule, new chemical entity (NCE), nucleoside compound that inhibits DNA methyltransferase, a cyclin-dependent kinase, and DNA synthesis. Potential indications of RX-3117 are solid tumors including colon, lung and pancreatic cancers. RX-3117 has demonstrated its ability to overcome cancer drug resistance in cancer cells, in particular, gemcitabine-resistance in the human lung cancer cell. The US and European patent issued for RX-3117 claims composition of matter, synthesis and methods (2008 and 2010, respectively).

About Rexahn Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Rexahn Pharmaceuticals is a clinical stage pharmaceutical company dedicated to developing and commercializing first in class and market leading therapeutics for cancer, CNS disorders, sexual dysfunction and other unmet medical needs. Rexahn currently has three drug candidates in Phase II clinical trials, Archexin®, Serdaxin®, and Zoraxel™, and a robust pipeline of preclinical compounds to treat multiple cancers and CNS disorders. Rexahn also operates key R&D programs of nano-medicines, 3D-GOLD, and TIMES drug discovery platforms. For more information, please visit www.rexahn.com.

Safe Harbor

To the extent any statements made in this press release deal with information that is not historical, these are forward-looking statements under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements include, but are not limited to, statements about Rexahn's plans, objectives, expectations and intentions with respect to future operations and products and other statements identified by words such as "will," "potential," "could," "can," "believe," "intends," "continue," "plans," "expects," "anticipates," "estimates," "may," other words of similar meaning or the use of future dates. Forward-looking statements by their nature address matters that are, to different degrees, uncertain. Uncertainties and risks may cause Rexahn's actual results to be materially different than those expressed in or implied by Rexahn's forward-looking statements. For Rexahn, particular uncertainties and risks include, among others, the difficulty of developing pharmaceutical products, obtaining regulatory and other approvals and achieving market acceptance; the marketing success of Rexahn's licensees or sublicensees; the success of clinical testing; and Rexahn's need for and ability to obtain additional financing. More detailed information on these and additional factors that could affect Rexahn's actual results are described in Rexahn's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its most recent annual report on Form 10-K and subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. All forward-looking statements in this news release speak only as of the date of this news release. Rexahn undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Rexahn Pharmaceuticals
Investor Relations
Stern Investor Relations, Inc.
Stephanie Ascher, 212-362-1200
[email protected]
or
Base Pair Communications
Constantine Theodoropulos, 617-401-3116
[email protected]

Source: Rexahn Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Released January 18, 2012