The Biotech Co. Effimune Announces the Publication of Two Articles on Its Lead Drug Candidate

Nantes, France, 21 May 2012 - Effimune, a biotech company, published in the April and May issues of the international medical magazine “American Journal of Transplantation” two articles on its lead drug candidate FR104, referring to its mechanism of action, its immunological safety and its efficacy to act as an immunomodulator to control human immune responses with a higher efficacy than standard of care.

“We are very pleased with the publications of these two articles in such a prestigious international medical magazine. They definitively mark an important step before the launch of the phase I clinical trial of our lead drug candidate in the coming months” underlined Maryvonne Hiance, Chairman of Effimune.

Effimune’s data demonstrated that due to its unique monovalent structure, FR104 is the first drug candidate able to antagonize CD28-mediated activation signals in T lymphocytes and to promote CTLA-4-mediated regulation signals, resulting in a very powerful and long-lasting control of pathological immune responses. This communication will be completed by seven presentations at the forthcoming American Transplant Congress (Boston, MA, June 2-6, 2012) and International Transplantation Congress (Berlin, July 15-19, 2012) on FR104 mode of action and on its successful preclinical assessment in kidney transplantation. The data presented are the first demonstrating potency of FR104 to prevent kidney transplant rejection in synergy with a non-toxic pharmacological immunosuppression regimen. FR104 opens a new avenue in the treatment of autoimmune diseases and of transplanted patients, by promoting immune tolerance.

About Effimune (formerly TcL Pharma)

Located in Nantes (France), Effimune is a biotech company dedicated to the discovery and development of drugs which regulate the immune system in autoimmune disease and transplantation. As a member of the Atlanpole Biotherapies cluster, the company was spun out of the Institute for Transplantation Urology, Nephrology (ITUN, Europe’s leading centre for kidney and combined kidney/pancreas transplantation) in December 2007.

The first monoclonal antibodies developed by Effimune (FR104, MD707 and MP196) are based on novel approaches to immune system regulation. Effimune is focusing its efforts on drug development in the field of autoimmune disorders and transplantation. The company's expertise encompasses all the steps in drug development, including target characterization, drug discovery, proof-of-concept, pilot manufacturing, regulatory preclinical development and first-in-man Phase I and II clinical trials.

Effimune is developing the CD28 antagonist FR104, the first ever biologic drug with selective immunosuppressive activity. The company's expertise has made it possible to select and engineer a monovalent anti-CD28 antibody (to make it purely antagonist and to tune its pharmacokinetic profile) and develop its production.

For more information, visit www.effimune.com

For more information:

Effimune

Maryvonne Hiance,

Présidente

Tél : +33 (0) 240 412 834

Mobile : 33 (0) 680 060 183

mhiance@effimune.com

www.effimune.com

ALIZE RP

Caroline Carmagnol

Tél: 33 1 42 68 86 43

Mobile : 33 6 64 18 99 59

Caroline@alizerp.com