Psiron Ltd Release: New Milestone Reached In ViroTarg Agreement: First Patient Into Clinical Trial In Melanoma

Psiron is pleased to announce the achievement of a new milestone in the clinical development program for CAVATAK™ in melanoma. The treatment of the first patient in the clinical trial being conducted by Psiron triggers a 0.5 million share issue to ViroTarg in accordance with its licence agreement with Psiron. The Phase I trial will recruit a total of three late stage melanoma patients.

“The entry of this patient into our trial is a significant achievement for Psiron,” said Julie Nutting, Psiron’s Chief Executive Officer. “Although the trial is designed to collect safety information, we also expect to learn more about the speed and mechanism of tumour destruction by CVA21. The virus works by multiplying in cancer cells and destroying tumour tissue without affecting normal tissue. These studies will help to track the effect of the virus injected directly into tumours”.

This milestone coincides with the release this week of an independent review of similar oncolytic technologies including Psiron’s published in Nature Reviews Cancer (“Recent Progress in the Battle between Oncolytic Viruses and Tumours,” published online 18th Nov 2005). “To be included in such a prestigious journal and profiled alongside other larger North American and European companies researching oncolytic viruses shows the high value of our research. As we move into new dose escalation studies next year and start to publish and present more of our research on our pipeline products, our profile will be raised further. We have already been approached for research collaborations,” commented Associate Prof Darren Shafren who leads Psiron’s research at the University of Newcastle.

For further information contact

Ms Julie Nutting CEO PSIRON LTD TEL: 61 2 9889 1200