Neurion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Renews and Expands Collaboration on HERG Ion Channel and Drug Development with Pfizer Inc.

Business Editors/Health/Medical Writers

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PASADENA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 8, 2004

Neurion Pharmaceuticals, Inc., an ion channel drug discovery company, announced today that it has reached agreement with Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) (www.pfizer.com) to renew and expand a research collaboration that the two companies initiated in December 2002. The collaboration will now continue through 2004 and include modeling of drug binding to the HERG potassium ion channel, as well as new evaluation of Pfizer compounds using Neurion's NP2 technology.

In the collaboration, Neurion scientists apply the Company's proprietary NP2 technology to evaluate and model the molecular determinants of drug binding to the HERG ion channel. Unintended blockade of the HERG channel by certain drugs has been associated with a type of side effect called drug-induced long QT syndrome. This syndrome can result in serious cardiac arrythmias.

"We made significant and rapid progress in the first year of our collaboration with Pfizer to adapt our NP2 technology to the HERG channel," said Dr. Mark Suto, Executive Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer of Neurion. The information generated as part of the collaboration has led to new insights on how drugs interact with this ion channel. "We are now moving forward with Pfizer to build upon the results from the first year of our collaboration and apply our findings to the challenge of designing safe and selective drugs that are free of unwanted HERG interactions."

During the past five years, a number of drugs have been removed from the market or eliminated from research pipelines due to their potential to block the HERG channel. Pharmaceutical companies are devoting significant resources to better understand and then eliminate known HERG blockers early in development. However, the lack of structure/function relationships for this unwanted HERG blockade makes this an unpredictable and costly endeavor.

As part of its agreement with Pfizer, Neurion receives research funding and retains rights to its proprietary HERG model and NP2 discovery platform. Neurion provides Pfizer with results which Pfizer may incorporate into its drug discovery and development programs.

Neurion has demonstrated that its NP2 technology can elicit highly detailed structural and functional information that may eventually be used to design selective compounds or to modify existing drugs in ways that reduce or eliminate unwanted interactions.

NP2 is a unique drug discovery and lead optimization platform that can provide highly detailed information about the structure and function of ion channels and other membrane proteins, which comprise more than 50% of all known molecular targets for drug therapy. Neurion is leveraging its relationships with large corporate partners in the pharmaceutical industry to scale up its internal R&D program. The company is seeking additional funding through partnerships and venture capital investments to develop its first product, a drug to treat anxiety without unwanted sedation.

About Neurion

Neurion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (www.neurionpharma.com) is a privately held, development-stage pharmaceutical company that is focused on the discovery of novel drugs for diseases of the central nervous system (CNS), including anxiety, cognition disorders and epilepsy. The Company applies its NP2 technology to develop small molecule drugs with greater selectivity for clinically validated ion channel and receptor targets in the brain. In addition to its collaboration with Pfizer, Neurion is also engaged in a collaboration with Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) (www.lilly.com).