New Clinical Data on the Effect of CF101 in Improving Dry Eye Symptoms.

PETACH TIKVA, Israel -- Can-Fite BioPharma (TASE:CFBI) announced today that new clinical data demonstrating activity of CF101 in improving dry eye symptoms in human patients suffering from Keratitis Sicca (know also as Keratoconjunctivitis Sicca) was submitted for presentation in Eular 2006, the Annual European Congress of Rheumatology of the European League Against Rheumatism, to take place in Amsterdam in June, 2006.

Keratitis Sicca is a chronic eye disease that results from inadequate tear volume, leading to eye irritation that may lead to temporary or rarely permanent impairment in vision. It is a disease that is commonly found in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients. Dry eye symptoms of several RA patients that participated in Can-Fite's Phase IIa study and that also suffered from Keratitis Sicca were significantly improved following treatment with CF101.

Dr. Pnina Fishman, Can-Fite's CEO, commented that this finding was entirely unexpected. It was striking enough so as to be noticed in a clinical trial that was designed to look at improvement of RA disease symptoms. This finding is believed to be very meaningful for two reasons: First it is further evidence to the anti-inflammatory efficacy of CF101. Moreover, it may open another avenue for future clinical development of CF101.

The company also submitted a new patent application relating to the new findings.

About Can-Fite

Can-Fite BioPharma Ltd. is a public company, traded on the Tel-Aviv Stock Exchange that is headquartered in Petach-Tikva, Israel. The company, which began its operations at the end of 2000, was founded based on the work by Professor Pnina Fishman, formerly a Tumor Immunologist in the Rabin Medical Center and currently the company's CEO, together with Dr Ilan Cohn, Patent Attorney and Senior Partner at Reinhold Cohn and Partners, a leading Israeli Patent Attorney firm. The Company has research laboratories and offices in Israel. The Company's lead drug, CF101, for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis is currently in Phase II clinical trials and to date went through clinical trials in the USA, UK and Israel.

About CF101

CF101 is a small molecule, which is administered to patients orally. This drug, which is developed for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, was tested to date in clinical trials in the USA, UK and Israel. The drug is active against a wide variety of autoimmune and cancer diseases and has a preferential safety profile. The drug's main advantage is in its ability to specifically attack pathological cells without affecting healthy ones. In addition, the fact that the drug is administered orally in the form of a capsule creates a huge advantage vs. current treatments which are administered by IV infusion or injection, at much higher costs.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a severe and chronic autoimmune disease that affects more than 1% of the population in the Western World. The disease is characterized mainly by inflammation of the lining, or synovium, of the joints that can lead to long-term joint damage, resulting in chronic pain, loss of function and disability. The market of disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs is estimated to be about US$ 5 billion and is expected to rise to about $7 billion by 2007.