Axonyx's Platform ``Beta Breaker'' Biotechnology Presented at International Alzheimer's Disease Symposium.

Business Editors, Health & Medical Writers

STOCKHOLM, Sweden--(BW HealthWire)--April 6, 2000

Axonyx Inc. (NASDAQ: AXYX) announced today findings that suggest its proprietary "beta (b)-sheet breaker" compounds provide a novel strategy to inhibit and dissolve amyloid deposits in the brain.

The findings were presented at the Sixth International Stockholm/Springfield Symposium on Advances in Alzheimer Therapy in Stockholm, Sweden. The cerebral deposition of amyloid containing plaques is a hallmark event in Alzheimer's Disease and a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of this disorder.

Axonyx and Ares-Serono signed a joint development agreement covering the "b-sheet breaker" compounds in May 1999. Ares-Serono has the exclusive right to license drug candidates that emerge from this program.

Claudio Soto, Ph.D., head of a team of researchers at the Serono Pharmaceutical Research Institute in Geneva, presented preclinical data showing that Axonyx's "b-sheet breaker" compounds can cause inhibition and dissolution of amyloid deposits injected into the brain of rats. The data indicate that dissolution of brain amyloid produces a partial recovery of cerebral damage to neuronal and astroglial cells. These results suggest that the "b-sheet breaker" compounds have the potential to slow and reverse the deposition of amyloid in Alzheimer's Disease.

Beta-amyloid as a key component in Alzheimer's Disease has been a popular topic in the media lately with articles published in The Economist and The Journal of the American Medical Association. Dr. Marvin S. Hausman, President and CEO of Axonyx, commented, "Dr. Soto's findings validate the research trail pursued by Axonyx in its quest to identify and treat the causative agents involved in Alzheimer's Disease."

Axonyx Inc. is a biotechnology company engaged in the discovery, acquisition and development of proprietary pharmaceutical compounds and new technologies useful in the diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer's Disease and other memory disorders.

Ares-Serono, headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, is a leading biotechnology company with four recombinant products on the market. The Company operates in 45 countries, and its products are sold in over 100 countries. Shares of Ares-Serono S.A. are traded on the Swiss stock exchange (TK: AREB).

This press release may contain forward-looking statements or predictions. These statements represent our judgment as of this date and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could materially affect the Company. Axonyx undertakes no obligation to publicly release the result of any revisions to such forward-looking statements that may be made to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.