OctoPlus' Locteron Data Presented at EASL Conference Show 65% Reduction in Flu-Like Side Effects With Comparable Efficacy in Hepatitis C

LEIDEN, THE NETHERLANDS--(Marketwire - April 15, 2010) - OctoPlus N.V. ("OctoPlus" or the "Company") (Euronext: OCTO) announces that its licensee Biolex Therapeutics has presented today, during the 45th International Liver Congress (EASL) in Austria, a poster containing interim clinical results after 36 weeks of treatment with Locteron® from its SELECT-2 Phase IIb clinical study.

• The main conclusion from this poster is that Locteron dosed every other week demonstrates comparable reduction in viral load compared to the weekly dosed standard of care, while achieving a 65% reduction in flu-like adverse events.

For detailed results we refer to Biolex' press release at www.biolex.com. The poster will be available on the website of OctoPlus shortly. On 15 and 16 April Biolex will present a second poster and an oral presentation during the EASL conference.

The SELECT-2 Phase IIb clinical study with Locteron is being conducted in the United States and Europe in 116 treatment-naive, genotype-1, chronic hepatitis C patients. Patients were randomised into one of four dosing cohorts, the 320, 480 or 640 ug dose of Locteron (administered once every two weeks) or a control arm consisting of PEG-Intron (1.5 ug/kg, administered every week), with all patients receiving weight-based ribavirin. Patients will be treated for 48 weeks and will be followed for an additional 24 weeks to determine the sustained virologic response (SVR) rate. All patients in the trial have completed at least 36 weeks of study.

Locteron is an investigational therapeutic candidate and has not been approved for sale by the United States Food and Drug Administration or by any international regulatory agency.

About Locteron
Locteron is a controlled release formulation of interferon alpha for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C. Locteron combines OctoPlus' controlled release drug delivery technology PolyActive® with Biolex' interferon alpha and is the most advanced product in clinical development incorporating one of OctoPlus' proprietary drug delivery technologies. OctoPlus licensed its commercial rights to Locteron exclusively to Biolex in October 2008.

About OctoPlus
OctoPlus is a drug delivery service company committed to the creation of improved pharmaceutical products that are based on OctoPlus' proprietary drug delivery technologies and have fewer side effects, improved patient convenience and a better efficacy/safety balance than existing therapies. OctoPlus focuses on the development of long-acting, controlled release versions of known protein therapeutics, other drugs, and vaccines on behalf of its clients.

The clinically most advanced product incorporating our technology is Biolex Therapeutics' lead product Locteron®, a controlled release formulation of interferon alpha for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C. OctoPlus licensed Locteron exclusively to Biolex in October 2008. Locteron is being manufactured for Biolex by OctoPlus and is currently in Phase IIb clinical studies.

In addition, OctoPlus is a leading European provider of advanced drug formulation and clinical scale manufacturing services to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, with a focus on difficult-to-formulate active pharmaceutical ingredients.

OctoPlus is listed on Euronext Amsterdam by NYSE Euronext under the symbol OCTO. For more information about OctoPlus, please visit our website www.octoplus.nl.

This document may contain certain forward-looking statements relating to the business, financial performance and results of OctoPlus and the industry in which it operates. These statements are based on OctoPlus' current plans, estimates and projections, as well as its expectations of external conditions and events. In particular the words "expect", "anticipate", "predict", "estimate", "project", "plan", "may", "should", "would", "will", "intend", "believe" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. We caution investors that a number of important factors, and the inherent risks and uncertainties that such statements involve, could cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statements. In the event of any inconsistency between an English version and a Dutch version of this document, the English version will prevail over the Dutch version.

Click here for the press release in PDF (http://hugin.info/137076/R/1403789/357984.pdf)