Nymox Reports Positive Progress in Spheron Based Drugs for Alzheimer's Disease

ROCKVILLE, MD (Aug. 6, 1998) Nymox Pharmaceutical Corporation announced today that several experimental studies on its drug candidate for Alzheimer's disease (AD) have yielded promising results. The lead compound NXD2858 was designed by Nymox to inhibit the formation of Alzheimer plaques from spherons and therefore slow down or arrest the progression of the disease. The new studies have demonstrated that the drug is orally bioavailable, has good blood-brain barrier penetration, and continues to show no evidence thus far of any toxicity or significant potential side effects. Nymox is targeting the drug for human testing in less than one year.

"We are very excited by these positive developments," said Dr. Paul Averback, CEO of Nymox. "Our studies have shown that spherons satisfy 20 criteria of validity implicating them as the potential cause of AD. No other theory that we are aware of has more than a few associations to compare with this long list, and therefore we believe that our spheron based therapeutic program has unique potential to modify this major disease problem. We are particularly pleased about our drug candidate's lack of toxicity thus far."

Studies by Nymox and confirmed in other laboratories have shown that spherons are unique protein balls found in every person's brain, which in AD later develop into the amyloid plaques found in AD brains (Journal of Alzheimer's Disease 1998, 1:1-34). Spherons slowly enlarge throughout life until they become so large that they burst forming the deadly amyloid plaques. Spherons have the unique and identical location as plaques, the same nuclei of the brain, the same histological and cytological location in the tissue, and the same electron microscopical location. Spherons have the same species specificity as plaques. The number of spherons per unit volume of brain tissue corresponds to that of plaques; the size of individual spherons and individual plaques strongly correlates; and the spherons and plaques have closely similar geometrical, spatial distribution, and topological characteristics. The mass of the plaque lesion and the mass of the spheron precursor closely correlate, and both satisfy focal concentration and concentration gradient criteria. Intermediary stages of spheron degeneration into plaques are identifiable. Spherons are extractable in unit quanta, are unique to the brain, are capable of reproducing the plaques in the test tube as well as in the brain of the experimental animal, both in 1:1 quantitative balance. Biochemical analysis of spherons shows that they contain the plaque biochemical markers. Nymox believes that these and other criteria uniquely validate the relevance of the Nymox drug candidates.

Nymox also has several anti-infective treatments in development. Nymox has also developed a clinically proven highly accurate test (AD7C™) to help the physician in the diagnosis of AD. AD7C™ has been shown repeatedly in multiple independent double-blind coded clinical trials to be the only clinical biohemical test to have its very high level of accuracy (88% positive and 89% negative predictive value). Nymox has also developed the urinary AD7C™ test which will be available this year. This state of the art urinary test is completely painless and the results will be available for the doctor within a few days of sample receipt. The urinary test will help reduce a great deal of anxiety and expense incurred during a protracted diagnostic process, which can take up to several years from the time of initial symptoms according to independent published studies.

This press release contains certain "forward-looking statements", as defined in the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and the actual results and future events could differ materially from management's current expectations. Such factors are detailed from time to time in the Company's filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and other regulatory authorities.