Intellect Neurosciences, Inc. Submits Statement Setting Grounds for Appeal in European Patent Proceedings

NEW YORK, Feb. 14, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Intellect Neurosciences, Inc. (OTCBB: ILNS), a biopharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery and development of disease-modifying therapeutic agents for the treatment of Alzheimer's and other neurological diseases announced today that it submitted a statement setting out its grounds for appealing the European Patent Office's (EPO) preliminary decision to revoke the company's ANTISENILIN® patents regarding passive immunotherapy methods for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. That decision followed a challenge by major pharmaceutical companies co-developing bapineuzumab, currently in Phase 3 clinical trials.

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The submitted Statement explains in detail why the Opposition Proceedings initiated by Elan and Wyeth on April 30, 2009 and maintained by Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson are not supported by the facts. Intellect Neurosciences remains confident that its grounds of appeal will lead to a reversal of the preliminary decision by the EPO that was based on a primarily formalistic objection. It is worth noting that the Notice of Opposition to Intellect's patents did not include allegations regarding lack of inventiveness or novelty.

"We are determined to protect our dominating patent position despite the bullying tactics by major pharmaceutical companies aiming to intimidate and undermine a company with the small size and limited resources of Intellect Neurosciences. Those actions are disappointing because we had previously demonstrated our willingness to provide licenses under favorable terms to various developers of antibodies based on our ANTISENILIN® platform technology," commented Daniel G. Chain, Ph.D., Intellect's chairman & CEO. "We intend to vigorously pursue a reversal of the EPO's preliminary decision, and we intend to vigorously pursue patent protection for this technology in our other patent filings. Perhaps those companies involved in the challenge will reconsider their positions and desist from further action so we can focus on our primary purpose of innovating and developing next-generation improved treatments for the millions of victims of Alzheimer's disease."

About Intellect Neurosciences, Inc.

Intellect Neurosciences, Inc. develops innovative approaches aimed at arresting or preventing Alzheimer's disease, and other neurodegenerative diseases especially focused on proteinopathies. Intellect's pipeline includes therapeutic vaccines, antibodies and neuroprotective antibody drug conjugates

The company is currently developing products based on three platform technologies: ANTISENILIN® is Intellect's Alzheimer's beta amyloid monoclonal antibody platform technology which underlies a product in Phase 3 clinical trials licensed to major pharmaceutical companies. ANTISENILIN also underlies IN-N01, a humanized monoclonal antibody being developed by the company. RECALL-VAX is a therapeutic vaccine technology that underlies three preclinical drug candidates, RV01, RV02, which target beta amyloid and delta tau protein, respectively, and RV03, which is a combination of the two. IN-N01-OX2 is the first candidate to emerge from the company's CONJUMAB-A platform technology, based on a completely novel application of antibody drug conjugates (ADCs) in which the antibody is chemically conjugated to a small molecule (OX2) that has potent neuroprotective properties both as an antioxidant and inhibitor of protein aggregation.

Intellect is seeking to partner/license its platform technologies on a product- by-product basis to develop antibody-drug conjugates and therapeutic vaccines. RECALL-VAX and CONJUMAB-A have potential applications for treatment of several serious diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, Huntington's, Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy, Frontotemporal Dementia, Progressive Supranuclear Palsy, Pick's disease, Cortical Basal Degeneration, Age-Related Macular Degeneration, Glaucoma, and Peripheral Amyloidosis.

The company recently licensed OX1 a small molecule multimodal antioxidant to ViroPharma, Inc. for Friedreich's Ataxia and other neurodegenerative diseases. For more information, please visit www.intellectns.com.

Safe Harbor Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

The statements in this release and oral statements made by representatives of Intellect relating to matters that are not historical facts (including, without limitation, those regarding future performance or financial results, the timing or potential outcomes of research collaborations or clinical trials, any market that might develop for any of Intellect's product candidates and the sufficiency of Intellect's cash and other capital resources) are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, the likelihood that actual performance or results could materially differ, that future research will prove successful, the likelihood that any product in the research pipeline will receive regulatory approval in the United States or abroad, or Intellect's ability to fund such efforts with or without partners. Intellect undertakes no obligation to update any of these statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as to the date hereof. Accordingly, any forward-looking statements should be read in conjunction with the additional risks and uncertainties detailed in Intellect's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including those factors discussed under the caption "Risk Factors" in Intellect's Annual Report on Form 10-K (file no. 333-128226), filed on October 13, 2011, and in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended December 31, 2011, filed on February 2, 2012.

Contact:
Jules Abraham
JQA Partners, LLC
917-885-7378
jabraham@jqapartners.com

SOURCE Intellect Neurosciences, Inc.