The main conclusion from the two posters and the oral presentation that were given during the EASL conference is that Locteron dosed every other week consistently achieves a reduction in flu-like sides effects while maintaining antiviral efficacy comparable to the weekly dosed standard of care, providing compelling proof that Locteron offers a significant improvement in interferon therapy.

Simon Sturge, CEO of OctoPlus, says: "We are very excited about the results that were presented at the EASL conference, which are an important validation of our PolyActive® technology. Previous Locteron data had already confirmed that PolyActive can achieve the desired controlled release profile, but these results demonstrate the actual patient benefit that is the ultimate objective of our technology."

For the detailed results that were published at the EASL conference we refer to Biolex' press releases at www.biolex.com.

The "480 STUDY" is a Phase IIb trial that is being conducted in Europe and Israel and includes 74 treatment-naïve hepatitis C patients with the genotype-1 variant of the virus. The 480 STUDY is designed to provide, in combination with the SELECT-2 Phase IIb trial, patients for use in the EMPOWER analyses of efficacy and tolerability of the 480 µg dose of Locteron versus PEG-Intron (interim results from SELECT-2 and EMPOWER were also presented at the EASL conference last week). The 480 STUDY includes the first clinical evaluation of the drug configuration of Locteron planned for use in Phase III trials.