Xechem CEO, In Wide-Ranging UPI Interview, Discusses for-Profit Model for Delivering Critically-Needed Drugs for African Market.

Dr. Ramesh Pandey, CBS/MarketWatch Readers Choice CEO Of Year, Lays out Plans for $250+ Million in Sales of New Sickle Cell Drug

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. -- Xechem International, Inc. (OTCBB: XKEM), Dr. Ramesh Pandey, president and CEO of Xechem International, was interviewed at length by United Press International (UPI) recently on his plans to manufacture and market the first new treatment for Sickle Cell Disease in decades in Nigeria. Sickle Cell Disease threatens the lives of 4 million Nigerians, as well as 80,000 Americans and many millions more worldwide.

The interview, which follows, can be found at:

http://www.upi.com/HealthBusiness/view.php?StoryID=20061221- 033418-3614r.(Due to the length of this URL, it may be necessary to copy and paste it into your Internet browser's URL address field. You may also need to remove an extra space in the URL if one exists.)

UPI Interview: Into Africa: Xechem CEO

WASHINGTON, Dec. 21 (UPI) -- United Press International interviewed Dr. Ramesh Pandey, an Indian-born medicinal chemist who founded his own company after years of working for large pharmaceutical companies, with this mission statement: make needed drugs that no one else would make.

More than 20 years later, Xechem, his New Jersey-based company, holds lucrative patents on drugs like paclitaxel, a cancer treatment derived from the Yew tree.

After a chance meeting with Nigerian officials, Xechem has opened one of the most state-of-the-art pharmaceutical plants in Africa. The factory churns out Nicosan, the first non-toxic treatment for sickle-cell anemia, a disease that afflicts about 16 million individuals primarily of African descent worldwide.

For his work, he has been awarded the Reader's Choice CBS/MarketWatch CEO of the Year award, and immortalized in a song written by Martin Luther King Jr.'s niece. But despite all this, he says, there is still more work to be done.

Q: How did you end up working on drugs for orphan diseases?

A: I was working at Abbott Laboratories, working on antibiotics and cancer treatments that cost $3 million, $4 million or $5 million per kilogram. Then I was approached by a company called Lyphomed to help them develop a generic version of the drug vancomycin (an antibiotic used to treat severe infections). The only company making the drug was Eli Lilly, and their patent had been expired for five years. Nobody in China, India, anywhere, was making the drug.

I wasn't sure at first if I could make the drug, but after three and a half years we developed a version. We founded Xechem and the charter was to make drugs not available anywhere else on the market. We put our generic into production in Copenhagen and Japan. We made our money back in less than two weeks. My entire life changed.

Q: You bought out Xechem from its parent company in 1990, but as the company prepared for its first public offering, an untimely patent extension granted to another firm sent the stock into freefall. Can you describe your meeting with a Nigerian delegation in search of a sickle-cell anemia drug that turned things around for you?

A: Until that time, I had no idea what sickle-cell disease was. I overheard someone from the delegation saying 'We have a drug for sickle-cell disease but nobody wants to put up money.' I said, 'I want it.' At the time, there was no non-toxic drug for the disease.

The Nigerians said 'Westerners come here, take things and never come back. Can you set up a factory here?' I went to Nigeria and saw there was a lot of opportunity there. I agreed to build a factory.

We are currently marketing the drug in Nigeria and we plan to bring the drug to the United States -- where 80,000 people have sickle-cell anemia -- to increase its credibility.

Q: Most of the attention goes to efforts to donate drugs to people in low-income countries. But you have built a successful model based on selling to the Nigerian market. How does it work?

A: Nigeria has a population of 130 million people. Like in every country, there are rich and poor people. It is very cheap to manufacture things there, and many people can afford to buy the treatment.

Right now, the problem is that demand for the drug is greater than what we can produce. Other countries have sent delegations to tour our factory.

Especially when the government is in the picture, I think it makes a lot of sense to develop things in those countries. We are making history. I think there's a tremendous opportunity to help people.

Q: What is it like to operate in Nigeria?

A: People have a very bad image of Nigeria and other African countries; we've helped to change that. If you come there, you can see that what we have built is as good as anywhere else. People will change their impression and say yes, things can be done in these countries.

One problem we have encountered is that often, once people are trained, they leave. We have decided to start classes at Nigerian universities to ensure a supply of trained workers.

(These countries) are looking for people like us who can help build. Criticism won't help anybody get anywhere.

Q: Where do you plan to market the drug next?

A: We expect sales of between $240 million and $288 million per year in Nigeria in the next three to five years. Then we plan to market the drug in all African countries because there are no other drugs on the market.

We also have orphan drug status in the United States and the European Union.

About Xechem

Xechem International is a development stage biopharmaceutical company working on Sickle Cell Disease (SCD), antidiabetic, antimalarial, antibacterial, antifungal, anticancer and antiviral (including AIDS) products from natural sources, including microbial and marine organisms. Its focus is on the development of phyto-pharmaceuticals (Natural Herbal Drugs) and other proprietary technologies, including those used in the treatment of orphan diseases. Xechem's mission is to bring relief to the millions of people who suffer from these diseases. Its recent focus and resources have been directed primarily toward the development and launch of NICOSAN[TM] (to be marketed as HEMOXIN[TM] in the US and Europe). With the Nigerian regulatory approval now in hand, Xechem is now working on the commercialization of the drug in Nigeria and the pursuit of US FDA and European regulatory approval. In addition to NICOSAN[TM], Xechem is also working on another sickle cell compound, 5-HMF, which it has licensed from Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU).

Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains certain forward looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, which are intended to be covered by safe harbors created hereby. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties.