Delenex Therapeutics Appoints Eric de La Fortelle as CEO and Jakob Schlapbach as CFO

ZURICH-SCHLIEREN, SWITZERLAND--(Marketwire - 02/01/11) - Today, Delenex Therapeutics (« Delenex ») announced the appointments of Eric de La Fortelle as new CEO, and Jakob Schlapbach as new CFO.

Eric de La Fortelle brings significant experience from the pharmaceutical industry to Delenex. He served previously in two senior roles at F. Hoffmann-La Roche ("Roche"). Beginning in 2005, Eric was Global Head, External Research and Technologies, leading a ten-person group responsible for establishing and managing around fifty strategic alliances each year in early-stage products and technologies. In 2008 and 2009, he also served as Global Head, Emerging Technologies.

Eric de La Fortelle's scientific work contributed to the field of protein structure determination. The SHARP software, of which he was the initial lead author, contributed to the resolution of more than a thousand protein structures by X-ray crystallography.

Eric de La Fortelle is a graduate from Ecole Centrale de Paris, holds a Ph.D. in structural biology from Paris XI University and an MBA from INSEAD.

Jakob Schlapbach joined Delenex in December, 2010, as CFO. Mr. Schlapbach brings more than thirty years of banking and industrial financing experience to the company. He has been CFO of Cytos Biotechnology for more than ten years until mid-2010 and hold the same position with Ascom group between 1994 and 2000. At Cytos Biotechnology he has been instrumental in raising funds in the amount of CHF 262 million from institutional and private investors and played a key role in the going public of Cytos Biotechnology. He was elected "CFO of the Year" in 2002 by the renowned Swiss newspaper Finanz und Wirtschaft.

Jakob Schlapbach holds an MBA from INSEAD and an economics degree from University of Berne (lic.rer.pol.).

Thomas Hecht, chairman of Delenex said: "We are pleased and proud to have attracted two managers of such a high calibre to Delenex. I am convinced that Eric with his international experience and strong business development & licensing background has the skillset to lead Delenex to become a significant player in the field of antibody fragments. I am also looking forward to working again with Jakob, a seasoned CFO with a long career in finance and in the biotech area, having broad experience in financial transactions ."

Eric de la Fortelle mentioned: "I am looking forward joining Delenex at this stage ,where it will move its lead project towards the clinic while building a strong pipeline from its proven platform technology".

"I am excited about the opportunity to work for Delenex and to support the team in all financial matters" , Jakob Schlapbach added.

About Delenex Therapeutics AG

Delenex Therapeutics AG is a Swiss biotech company developing therapeutic antibody fragments targeting serious medical diseases with high unmet need. These antibody fragments called PENTRA fragments are being designed for local/topical application by using the benefits of an antibody therapy with only limited systemic exposure. The PENTRA technology is clinically validated and delivers antibody therapeutics exhibiting the highest affinity, solubility and stability all combined with a very low risk of immunogenicity.

Delenex is a spin off from ESBATech AG before its acquisition by Alcon, Inc. in September 2009 and operates out of laboratories and offices in Zürich- Schlieren.

Delenex Therapeutics AG Wagistrasse 23 Zürich-Schlieren Switzerland

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