Axonyx Announces a New Approach for The Treatment of Alzheimer's Disease.

Health/Medical & Business Editors

WASHINGTON--(BW HealthWire)--July 14, 2000

Axonyx Inc. (NASDAQ:AXYX) announced today experimental findings by Dr. Nigel Greig of the National Institute on Aging/ National Institutes of Health (NIA/NIH) indicating that selective inhibition of the brain enzyme, butyrylcholinesterase, is a promising new strategy for the treatment of Alzheimer's Disease.

Axonyx is engaged with Dr. Greig of the NIA/NIH in the development of a series of drugs that are inhibitors of butyrylcholinesterase. These findings were presented by Dr. Greig on July 12 at the World Alzheimer's Congress 2000 in Washington, D.C.

Both acetylcholinesterase and butyrylcholinesterase are key enzymes involved in the transmission of nerve signals in the brain. Scientific evidence has accumulated that butyrylcholinesterase is elevated in the brains of patients afflicted with Alzheimer's and could be an important causative element in the onset and progression of this disease.

Dr. Greig, Chief of the Laboratory, Drug Design and Development at the NIA/NIH, described a series of butyrylcholinesterase inhibitors that are both potent and selective in action. Axonyx is at the forefront in the development of compounds of this type. The design of these inhibitors is similar in chemical structure to the Axonyx acetylcholinesterase inhibitor, Phenserine, which is currently in clinical trials.

Dr. Greig presented preliminary studies on the action of butyrylcholinesterase inhibitors on memory and learning in rodents; these drugs readily enter the brain and improve cognition (memory) in elderly rats. These compounds also have the unusual ability to decrease the formation of beta amyloid in cell culture and in the cerebral spinal fluid of rats. There is mounting evidence that beta amyloid is a protein whose formation and deposition is a key component in the development and progression of the disease. These properties suggest the possibility that a butyrylcholinesterase inhibitor could not only improve cognition but may slow the progression of the disease. Currently, no marketed drug has this property.

"The next major hurdle in unscrambling the mysteries of Alzheimer's Disease is uncovering the secrets of memory function," commented Dr. Marvin S. Hausman, President and CEO of Axonyx. He continued, "What makes these preclinical findings by Dr. Greig so exciting is the fact that he may have discovered a role for butyrylcholinesterase in normal memory and in Age Associated Loss of Memory. No matter what treatment is established in the prevention or interruption of progression of Alzheimer's Disease, nerve loss most likely has occurred, nerve regeneration is unlikely, and improvement of memory will always be needed."

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.

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.