ALGENICS and NovImmune SA Announce a Research Collaboration to Express Fully Human Antibodies Using the Microalgal PTA Cell Line

Saint-Herblain (France) Plan-les-Ouates (Switzerland) - June 17, 2011 -- Algenics announced a new research collaboration with NovImmune to biomanufacture monoclonal therapeutic antibodies using its proprietary expression platform AlgebiosysTM. Two fully human therapeutic antibodies have been retained from NovImmune’s current pipeline to be produced in the PTA microalgal cell line. There are numerous benefits to using microalgal expression systems over current technologies such as advantageous N-glycosylation profile, natural cell robustness and lack of animal-derived components, while retaining the use of conventional upstream and downstream processing equipments. This collaboration with NovImmune will validate this new and innovative system for the biomanufacturing of fully human therapeutic monoclonal antibodies. Terms around the collaboration have not been disclosed.

“We are delighted to enter this collaboration with NovImmune, a highly innovative company in the field of therapeutic antibodies. This partnership will give us the opportunity to harness the potential of our PTA cell line by comparing products obtained in microalgae with NovImmune’s clinical-stage antibodies” concluded Aude Carlier, CEO & CSO of Algenics.

“NovImmune is pleased to have initiated this collaboration with Algenics for the validation of a new and already promising approach for the expression of monoclonal antibodies”, commented Nicolas Fischer, Head of Research at NovImmune.

About NOVIMMUNE:

NovImmune SA (‘NovImmune’) is a drug discovery and development company with a focus on therapeutic monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) for inflammatory diseases and immune-related disorders. NovImmune has generated, to date, seven proprietary mAbs one of which was licensed to Genentech/Roche. The pipeline is a balance of preclinical and clinical compounds with a mix of both clinically validated as well as novel targets. Each product has the potential to become a medicine for multiple conditions due to the overlapping mechanism of action under laying diseases. Three compounds are in clinical development with the most advanced in Phase II.

For more information please visit our website:

www.novimmune.com

Contact

Luca Bolliger

Director, Business Development and Communication

NovImmune SA • 14 ch. des Aulx • 1228 Plan-Les-Ouates, Geneva • Switzerland

T +41 22 593 51 15

F +41 22 839 71 43

About ALGENICS:

Algenics S.A.S is a privately-held biotechnology company founded in 2008. The company operates its own facility in Saint-Herblain/Nantes (France).

Algenics focuses on innovative uses of microalgae to produce recombinant biotherapeutics. Our technological platform AlgebiosysTM encompasses tools and technologies to efficiently generate stable strains of highly-productive microalgal cells. This proprietary and patented platform allows the biomanufacturing of a broad range of therapeutics in our PTA cell line including complex multimeric glycoproteins.

Our strategy is to identify and produce biotherapeutics that benefit from our technology at the level of industrial proof of concept. Current targets include secreted antibodies and viral envelope immunogens.

For more information please visit our website:

www.algenics.com

Contact

Alexandre Lejeune

Business Development Manager

Algenics, Pôle Bio Ouest, rue du Moulin Rousselière

44800 Saint-Herblain, France

T: +33 2 40 40 75 22

F: +33 2 40 59 32 44

mailto:alexandre.lejeune@algenics.com