ProtAffin AG announces R&D collaboration with Intercell AG

15th April, 2008, Graz, Austria: ProtAffin Biotechnologie AG, a company developing protein therapeutics that act by targeting glycan structures driving inflammatory processes, today announced it has commenced an R&D collaboration with Intercell AG (ATX:ICLL), an established biotechnology company developing novel vaccines against infectious diseases. Under the terms of the R&D collaboration, ProtAffin will use its expertise and know-how in functional proteomics to assist Intercell in validating potential vaccine antigens for undisclosed bacterial organisms.

Prof. Andreas Kungl, CSO of ProtAffin commented: “We are pleased to be collaborating with Intercell AG as a well-established commercial biotechnology company. ProtAffin has a depth of expertise in functional proteomics and in particular the analysis of protein-glycan interactions, and we are pleased to be assisting Intercell in one of its vaccine antigen identification programs. ”

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About ProtAffin AG

ProtAffin is a pre-clinical stage biotechnology company developing protein-based products targeting inflammation. Its novel class of biologics targets heparin-like glycan structures driving inflammatory processes. ProtAffin has expertise in the field of functional proteomics and more specifically in the analysis of protein-glycan interactions and their role in biological processes. Protein-glycan interactions drive certain inflammatory processes and are also crucial in initial contacts between microorganisms and human cells.

Since its foundation, the Company has raised €4.3m in equity financing and €2m in grant support. The €2.65m first closing of the Series A financing in May 2007 was led by Aescap Venture Management BV in Amsterdam. Z-Cube Srl, the venture arm of the Zambon Company also participated in the first closing. A second closing of the Series A financing was announced in January 2008. The Entrepreneurs Fund invested a further €1.35m, to bring the Series A round to €4m in total.

ProtAffin’s lead anti-inflammatory programme is PA401, a modified form of human IL-8 that acts as a potent, targeted anti-inflammatory protein. By binding to glycans that drive the infiltration of leukocytes in inflammation with a higher affinity than wild-type IL-8, PA401 can prevent wild-type IL-8 from activating leukocytes and inhibit the events that would normally lead to inflammation. PA401 is in pre-clinical development at ProtAffin for the treatment of ischemia/reperfusion injury in the setting of kidney transplantation. The Company currently has 13 employees in its offices and labs in Graz, Austria. The Company also has a Corporate Office in Vienna, Austria on the campus of the Novartis Institute of Biomedical Research.

About Intercell AG

Intercell AG is a growing biotechnology company which focuses on the design and development of novel vaccines for the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases with substantial unmet medical need. The Company develops antigens and adjuvants which are derived from its proprietary technology platforms and has in-house GMP manufacturing capabilities. Based on these technologies, Intercell has strategic partnerships with a number of global pharmaceutical companies, including Novartis, Merck & Co., Inc., Wyeth, Sanofi Pasteur, Kirin, and the Statens Serum Institut.

The Company’s leading product, a prophylactic vaccine against Japanese Encephalitis, successfully concluded pivotal Phase III clinical trials in 2006. The Market Authorization Application (MAA) in Europe as well as the Biological License Application (BLA) with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the use of the vaccine to prevent Japanese Encephalitis were submitted in December of 2007. The licensure application to TGA (Therapeutic Goods Administration) in Australia was submitted in February of 2008.

The company’s broad development pipeline includes a partnered S. aureus vaccine in Phase II, a therapeutic vaccine against Hepatitis C in Phase II, a Pseudomonas vaccine in Phase II, a partnered Tuberculosis vaccine (Phase I/II), and five products focused on infectious diseases in preclinical development. Intercell is listed on the Vienna Stock Exchange under the symbol “ICLL”.

For further information, please contact:

Dr. Jason Slingsby, Chief Executive Officer
ProtAffin AG
Impulszentrum Graz-West
Reininghausstrasse 13a
A-8020 Graz
Austria
T: +43 316 382 541
F: +43 316 382 541-4
E-mail: office@protaffin.com
www.protaffin.com

College Hill (media enquiries)
Katja Stout/ Holly Griffiths/ John McIntyre
T: +44 (0)20 7866 7856
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