Keryx Biopharmaceuticals' KRX-0401 (Perifosine) Data Selected for Oral Presentation at the Upcoming 12th World Congress on Gastrointestinal Cancer

NEW YORK, June 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Keryx Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: KERX) today announced that abstract O-0017, entitled "Subset Analysis of 5-FU Refractory Patients from a Randomized Ph II Study of Perifosine + Capecitabine (P-CAP) vs. Placebo + Capecitabine (CAP) in Patients with 2nd or 3rd Line Metastatic CRC" has been selected for oral presentation at the upcoming 12th World Congress on Gastrointestinal Cancer, to be held in Barcelona, Spain from June 30 - July 2, 2010.  The oral presentation will be given by Paulo Hoff, M.D., Professor of Medicine and Chairman of Medical Oncology at the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil and former lead investigator for the capecitabine (Xeloda(R)) Phase 3 approval study in metastatic colorectal cancer.  

Of the 38 patients enrolled in the Phase II study, 27 patients were previously refractory to a 5-FU based regimen.  A Phase 3 randomized double-blind trial comparing perifosine + capecitabine vs. placebo + capecitabine in 5-FU refractory patients with advanced refractory colorectal cancer (X-PECT trial), under Special Protocol Assessment (SPA) from the FDA, is currently open and enrolling patients at multiple centers throughout the U.S.

KRX-0401 (perifosine) is in-licensed by Keryx from Aeterna Zentaris Inc. (Nasdaq: AEZS; TSX: AEZ) in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

About Colorectal Cancer

According to the American Cancer Society, colorectal cancer is the third most common form of cancer diagnosed in the United States. It is estimated that over 146,000 people were diagnosed with some form of colorectal cancer with over 49,000 patients dying from colorectal cancer in 2009. Surgery is often the main treatment for early stage colorectal cancer. When colorectal cancer metastasizes (spreads to other parts of the body such as the liver) chemotherapy is commonly used. Treatment of patients with recurrent or advanced colorectal cancer depends on the location of the disease. Chemotherapy regimens (i.e. FOLFOX or FOLFIRI either with or without bevacizumab) have been shown to increase survival rates with some stages of colorectal cancer. Currently, there are seven approved drugs for patients with metastatic colorectal cancer: 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), capecitabine (Xeloda(R)), irinotecan (Camptosar(R)), oxaliplatin (Eloxatin(R)), bevacizumab (Avastin(R)), cetuximab (Erbitux(R)) , and panitumumab (Vectibix(R)). Depending on the stage of the cancer, two or more of these types of treatment may be combined at the same time or used after one another. For example, FOLFOX combines 5-FU, leucovorin and oxaliplatin and FOLFIRI combines 5-FU, leucovorin and irinotecan. Avastin(R), a VEGF monoclonal antibody inhibitor, is commonly administered together with FOLFIRI and FOLFOX. Typically, patients who fail FOLFIRI and/or FOLFOX (+ Avastin) and who are considered EGFR-positive (non-mutated, wild-type KRAS status), receive the EGFR monoclonal antibody inhibitors Erbitux(R) or Vectibix(R). However, patients who continue to progress beyond these treatments have a poor prognosis.

ABOUT KERYX BIOPHARMACEUTICALS, INC.

Keryx Biopharmaceuticals is focused on the acquisition, development and commercialization of medically important pharmaceutical products for the treatment of life-threatening diseases, including cancer and renal disease. Keryx is developing KRX-0401 (perifosine), a novel, potentially first-in-class, oral anti-cancer agent that inhibits Akt activation in the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) pathway, and also affects a number of other key signal transduction pathways, including the JNK pathway, all of which are pathways associated with programmed cell death, cell growth, cell differentiation and cell survival. KRX-0401 has demonstrated both safety and clinical efficacy in several tumor types, both as a single agent and in combination with novel therapies. KRX-0401 is currently in Phase 3 clinical development for both refractory advanced colorectal cancer and multiple myeloma, and in Phase 1 and 2 clinical development for several other tumor types. Each of the KRX-0401 Phase 3 programs are being conducted under Special Protocol Assessment (SPA) agreements with the FDA. Keryx is also developing Zerenex(TM) (ferric citrate), an oral, iron-based compound that has the capacity to bind to phosphate and form non-absorbable complexes. The Phase 3 clinical program of Zerenex in the treatment for hyperphosphatemia (elevated phosphate levels) in patients with end-stage renal disease is being conducted pursuant to an SPA agreement with the FDA. Keryx is headquartered in New York City.

Cautionary Statement

Some of the statements included in this press release, particularly those anticipating future clinical trials and business prospects for KRX-0401 (perifosine), may be forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. For those statements, we claim the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Among the factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially are the following: our ability to successfully and cost-effectively complete clinical trials for KRX-0401; the risk that the data (both safety and efficacy) from ongoing clinical trials will not coincide with the data analyses from prior pre-clinical and clinical trials previously reported by the Company; and other risk factors identified from time to time in our reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Any forward-looking statements set forth in this press release speak only as of the date of this press release. We do not undertake to update any of these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that occur after the date hereof. This press release and prior releases are available at http://www.keryx.com. The information found on our website is not incorporated by reference into this press release and is included for reference purposes only.

SOURCE Keryx Biopharmaceuticals, Inc.

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