EpiCept Corporation to Present Recent Progress on ASAP Technology at GTCbio’s Drug Discovery Conference

TARRYTOWN, N.Y., March 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- EpiCept Corporation today announced that Dr. John Drewe, Director Lead Discovery, will present at GTCbio's Apoptosis in Drug Discovery Conference on March 23, 2007 at the San Diego Marriott La Jolla in San Diego, CA. Dr. Drewe will provide an update on EpiCept's progress with its Anti- cancer Screening Apoptosis Platform (ASAP).

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20020513/NYM112LOGO )

Dr. Drewe's talk will focus on the rapid identification of lead product candidates along with the molecular targets of those compounds by utilization of a cell- and caspase-based apoptosis induction assay for both discovery and structure-activity relationship studies. Two agents that were identified by this technology have now progressed to clinical trials. Azixa*, licensed to Myriad Genetics, Inc. as part of an exclusive, worldwide development and commercialization agreement, is in Phase II clinical trials for brain cancer and EPC2407 is in Phase I clinical trials intended for various solid tumors.

An extension of the ASAP technology has focused on drug discovery for Myc- dependent tumors. Recent progress identifying and developing pharmacological agents that cause selective apoptosis in tumors with deregulated Myc oncogene expression will be described. Oncogenes such as Myc play a key role in the regulation of processes in both normal and cancer cells and deregulation of Myc expression is intimately linked to development of several cancers. Utilizing its ASAP technology, EpiCept has identified compounds that cause apoptosis selectively in tumors with deregulated Myc expression. These agents are being optimized to identify lead compounds for preclinical and clinical development in various cancers.

About EpiCept's ASAP Technology

Cancerous cells often exhibit unchecked growth caused by the disabling or absence of the natural process of programmed cell death, which is called apoptosis. Apoptosis is normally triggered to destroy a cell from within when it outlives its purpose or it is seriously damaged. One of the most promising approaches in the fight against cancer is to selectively induce apoptosis in cancer cells, thereby checking, and perhaps reversing, the improper cell growth.

EpiCept's proprietary apoptosis screening technology can efficiently identify new cancer drug candidates and molecular targets that selectively induce apoptosis in cancer cells through the use of chemical genetics and its proprietary live cell high-throughput caspase-3 screening technology.

Chemical genetics is a research approach investigating the effect of small molecule drug candidates on the cellular activity of a protein, enabling researchers to determine the protein's function. Using this approach with its proprietary caspase-3 screening technology, EpiCept researchers can focus their investigation on the cellular activity of small molecule drug candidates and their relationship to apoptosis.

This combination of chemical genetics and caspase-3 screening technology allows EpiCept's researchers to discover and rapidly test the effect of small molecules on pathways and molecular targets crucial to apoptosis, and gain insights into their potential as new anticancer agents. This screening technology is particularly versatile and can be adapted for almost any cell type that can be cultured, and it can measure caspase activation inside multiple cell types (e.g., cancer cells, immune cells, or cell lines from different organ systems or genetically engineered cells). This allows researchers to find potential drug candidates that are selective for specific cancer types, which may help identify candidates that provide increased therapeutic benefit and reduced toxicity.

EpiCept has identified several families of compounds with potentially novel mechanisms that induce apoptosis in cancer cells. Several compounds from within these families have progressed to lead drug candidate status with proven pre-clinical efficacies in tumor models and identified molecular targets.

About EpiCept Corporation

EpiCept is focused on unmet needs in the treatment of pain and cancer. EpiCept has a staged portfolio of pharmaceutical product candidates with several pain therapies in late-stage clinical trials, and a lead oncology compound (for acute myeloid leukemia, or AML) with demonstrated efficacy in a Phase III trial; a marketing authorization application for this compound has been submitted in Europe. EpiCept is based in Tarrytown, N.Y., and its research and development team in San Diego is pursuing a drug discovery program focused on novel approaches to apoptosis.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release and any oral statements made with respect to the information contained in this news release contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements include statements which express plans, anticipation, intent, contingency, goals, targets, future development and are otherwise not statements of historical fact. These statements are based on EpiCept's current expectations and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results or developments to be materially different from historical results or from any future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Factors that may cause actual results or developments to differ materially include: the risk that Ceplene will not receive regulatory approval or marketing authorization in the EU, the risk that our other product candidates that appeared promising in early research and clinical trials do not demonstrate safety and/or efficacy in larger-scale or later stage clinical trials, the risk that EpiCept will not obtain approval to market any of its product candidates, the risks associated with reliance on additional outside financing to meet its capital requirements, the risks associated with reliance on collaborative partners and others for further clinical trials, development, manufacturing and commercialization of our product candidates; the cost, delays and uncertainties associated with our scientific research, product development, clinical trials and regulatory approval process; our history of operating losses since our inception; competition; litigation; risks associated with our ability to maintain our listing on The Nasdaq Capital Market and our ability to receive stockholder approval for the Private Placement and SEDA; risks associated with our ability to have our common stock readmitted to trading on The Nasdaq Global Market; risks associated with the material weaknesses in our internal controls and the outcome of our SOX 404 audit; and risks associated with our ability to protect our intellectual property. These factors and other material risks are more fully discussed in EpiCept's periodic reports, including its reports on Forms 8-K, 10-Q and 10-K and other filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. You are urged to carefully review and consider the disclosures found in EpiCept's filings which are available at www.sec.gov or at www.epicept.com. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward- looking statements, any of which could turn out to be wrong due to inaccurate assumptions, unknown risks or uncertainties or other risk factors.

*Azixa is a registered trademark of Myriad Genetics, Inc.

EPCT-GEN

CONTACT: Robert W. Cook of EpiCept Corporation, +1-914-606-3572,rcook@epicept.com; Investors: Kim Sutton Golodetz, +1-212-838-3777,kgolodetz@lhai.com, or Bruce Voss, +1-310-691-7100, both ofLippert\Heilshorn & Associates; or Media: Francesca T. DeVellis ofFeinstein Kean Healthcare, +1-617-577-8110, francesca.devellis@fkhealth.com

Web site: http://www.epicept.com/