Media Contact:

    Pam Lord
    Porter Novelli Life Sciences
    619-849-6003
    plord@pnlifesciences.com

NEREUS PHARMACEUTICALS TO PRESENT RESEARCH AT THE ANNUAL MEETING OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF HEMATOLOGY

SAN DIEGO, Calif., November 26, 2007 - Nereus Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a pioneer in the use of marine microbial sources for the discovery and development of cancer therapeutics, and its collaborators will present preclinical study results involving its cancer drug candidate NPI-0052 at the 49th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) in Atlanta, Georgia December 8-11. Two oral presentations and two posters will highlight the novel mechanism, high potency and synergistic anti-tumor activity of the small molecule proteasome inhibitor NPI-0052 in combination with bortezomib (Velcade, Millennium Pharmaceuticals) in several tumor models for multiple myeloma, Waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia and B-non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. The findings illustrate how the two proteasome inhibitors affect the target to produce significantly different efficacy and toxicology characteristics in preclinical studies. In addition, early safety data from Nereusx' Phase I dose escalation trial of NPI-0052 in patients with lymphomas and solid tumors will be published in ASH's abstract issue of Blood.

In addition to the preclinical and clinical data for NPI-0052 to be presented at ASH, a paper co-authored by Nereus' Chief Technology Officer and Scientific Co-founder Michael Palladino, Ph.D. with collaborators from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute has been accepted for publication in a future edition of ASH's Blood. The research again demonstrates that combining NPI-0052 and bortezomib induces synergistic anti-multiple myeloma activity in a number of preclinical models.

Nereus researchers and collaborators will make the following presentations at ASH:

Saturday, December 8, 2007, 5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. ET Poster Session
#1516 - The combination of bortezomib and NPI-0052 exerts anti-tumor activity in Waldenstrom Macroglobulinemia
Aldo Roccaro, Xavier Leleu, Antonio Sacco, Xiaoying Jia, Anne-Sophie Moreau, Hai Ngo, Abdelkareem Azab, Feda Azab, Evdoxia Hatjiharissi, Steven Treon, Teru Hideshima, Michael Palladino, Kenneth Anderson, Dharminder Chuahan, Irene Ghobrial. Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA. Nereus Pharmaceuticals, San Diego, CA.

Sunday, December 9, 2007 - 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. Poster Session
#2524 - Combination of proteasome inhibitors bortezomib and NPI-0052 trigger in vivo synergistic cytotoxicity in multiple myeloma
Dharminder Chauhan, Ajita Singh, Mohan Brahmandam, Klaus Podar, Teru Hideshima, Robert Schlossman, Paul Richardson, Nikhil Munshi, Michael Palladino, Kenneth C. Anderson. Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA; Nereus Pharmaceuticals, San Diego, CA.

Monday, December 10, 2007 - 3:30 p.m. Oral Session
#667 - Targeting Cdk4/6 in combination therapy overcomes proteasome inhibitor resistance in multiple myeloma through synergistic mitochondria depolarization
Xiangao Huang, Tracey Louie, Maurizio Di Liberto, Jun Rice, David Jayabalan, Kang Zhang, Michael Palladino, Isan Chen, Peter Toogood, Ruben Niesvizky, Malcolm A.S. Moore, Selina Chen-Kiang. Departments of Pathology and Medicine, and Graduate Program in Immunology and Microbial Pathogenesis, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY. Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY. Nereus Pharmaceuticals, San Diego, CA. Pfizer Global Research and Development, San Diego, CA and Ann Arbor, MI.

Tuesday, December 11, 2007 - 8:30 a.m. Oral Session
#809 - Induction of Raf-1 kinase inhibitory protein (RKIP) by the proteasome inhibitor NPI-0052 and reversal of B-NHL resistance to apoptosis.
Stavroula Baritaki, Kam Yeung, Devasis Chatterjee, Michel Palladino, Benjamin Bonavida. Departments of Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics, David Geffen School of Medicine, Johnson Comprehensive Cancer Center, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA; Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Medical College of Ohio, Toledo, OH; Medicine, Brown University and Rhode Island Hospital, Providence, RI; Nereus Pharmaceuticals, San Diego, CA.

Abstracts from the 49th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology, Blood
#4504 - Phase I clinical trial of a novel proteasome inhibitor (NPI-0052) in patients with lymphomas and solid tumors
Razelle Kurzrock, Paul Hamlin, Anas Younes, David Hong, Michael Gordon, Matthew A. Spear, Michael A. Palladino, G. Kenneth Lloyd, Angie M. Longenecker, Saskia T.C. Neuteboom, Gillian F. Cropp, Alison Hannah, Carol Aghajanian (Intr. by Alison L. Hannah). M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX. Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY. Premiere Oncology of Arizona, Scottsdale, AZ. Nereus Pharmaceuticals, San Diego, CA.

About NPI-0052
Nereus novel, small molecule proteasome inhibitor NPI-0052 is in three Phase I trials at world-class cancer centers in the U.S., Australia and Europe for solid tumors, lymphomas, leukemias and multiple myeloma. Clinical trial sites include the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Ohio State University, Roswell Park Cancer Institute and University of Chicago. Preclinical studies indicate that this next generation compound may be superior to other proteasome inhibitors, with broader target inhibition, faster onset and longer duration of action, higher potency, oral and intravenous availability, and activity against myeloma cells resistant to Velcade, Thalomid (thalidomide, Celgene Corporation), Revlimid (lenalidomide, Celgene Corporation) and steroid therapy. NPI-0052 was derived from a marine-obligate gram-positive actinomycete (Salinispora tropica).

About Nereus Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Nereus Pharmaceuticals pursues novel sources of chemical diversity to discover and develop new therapeutics. Using its unmatched expertise in marine microbiology to identify unique biologically active compounds, the Company has two oncology drug candidates in Phase I clinical trials. NPI-2358, a tumor vascular disrupting agent, is being evaluated in patients with solid tumors and lymphomas, and the proteasome inhibitor NPI-0052 is being developed in patients with solid tumors, lymphomas, leukemias and multiple myeloma. The Company's discovery portfolio also includes potential drug candidates for cancer, infectious diseases and inflammation. For more information, visit www.nereuspharm.com.
 

###

Nereus Pharmaceuticals is a registered trademark of Nereus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. All other product and company names may be registered trademark or trademarks of their respective owners.