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Geneva,  Switzerland,  2  December   2008  -  Addex   Pharmaceuticals
(SWX:ADXN), the allosteric modulation company, started today a  Phase
IIb trial of ADX10059 as an add-on therapy to proton pump  inhibitors
(PPIs) for the treatment  of gastroesophageal reflux disease  (GERD),
the cause of heartburn and other  symptoms. The standard dose of  PPI
does not control GERD adequately  in about 40% of patients.  ADX10059
is a  first-in-class  reflux  inhibitor  that  works  by  selectively
inhibiting the  metabotropic glutamate  receptor 5  (mGluR5)  through
negative allosteric modulation. This approach may lead to a new class
of drugs that addresses the causes of GERD rather than the symptoms.

Chief Medical Officer Charlotte Keywood said: "The aim of this  trial
is  to  give  us  information  on  the  clinical  effects  of  reflux
inhibition by an mGluR5  inhibitor in patients  who continue to  have
breakthrough symptoms whilst  on PPIs.  This study  also may  provide
information on the most appropriate dose of ADX10059."

Study ADX10059-205
Study 205 is  a double-blind,  placebo-controlled, multi-center  U.S.
and European  Phase IIb  trial in  about 280  GERD patients  who  are
partial responders to proton pump inhibitors (PPIs). Patients in  the
trial will  continue taking  PPIs, the  gold standard  treatment  for
GERD, which work  by reducing  the acidity of  the stomach  contents.
There will be a baseline  symptom evaluation period followed by  four
weeks of  administration  of  twice-daily ADX10059  (50mg,  100mg  or
150mg). The  primary endpoint  is  patient reported  symptom  control
compared to baseline. Data are expected to be reported in late 2009.

GERD
Gastroesphageal reflux disease (GERD)  is a chronic condition  caused
by stomach  contents flowing  back into  the esophagus  on a  regular
basis. The  underlying cause  of this  is an  abnormally  functioning
lower esophageal sphincter (LES)  muscle that allows stomach  content
to pass back  into the esophagus  too easily. GERD  leads to  painful
symptoms like  heartburn  and  can  also damage  the  lining  of  the
esophagus. It is a  common disorder with prevalence  at about 15%  in
the United States and between 10%  and 25% in Europe.  Marketed  GERD
products work by reducing the acidity of the stomach contents but  do
nothing to reduce reflux events, so that in many patients symptoms of
GERD persist.

mGluR5 inhibition
As with other glutamate receptors, mGluR5 is involved in a variety of
functions in the  central and  peripheral nervous  systems. In  GERD,
inhibition of mGluR5 aims to restore normal function and improve  the
tone of  the LES  muscle  thereby addressing  the cause  of  disease.
Indeed, ADX10059 has been shown by Addex to reduce reflux and  reduce
esophageal acid exposure  in two separate  clinical trials.  Research
has also  shown  that  mGluR5 inhibition  improves  LES  function  in
animals. Reflux inhibitors have been recognized as potentially  being
the next generation GERD  therapy because they  address the cause  of
the disease  and  are  complementary  to  marketed  acid  suppression
therapies. Inhibiting  mGluR5  also  has  therapeutic  potential  for
levodopa  associated  dyskinesia  in  Parkinson's  disease,  migraine
headache, Fragile X and other diseases.

About Addex
Addex Pharmaceuticals  (www.addexpharma.com) discovers  and  develops
allosteric  modulators,   an  emerging   class  of   small   molecule
therapeutic   agents.   Allosteric   modulation   may   offer    more
sophisticated ways  to  normalize biological  signaling  compared  to
classical  orthosteric  agonist  or  antagonist  drugs.   Allosteric,
literally translated from its Greek roots, means "other site".  Thus,
allosteric modulators bind receptors at sites that are distinct  from
the binding sites of classical small molecule orthosteric agonist and
antagonist drugs.

The most  advanced drug  candidate, ADX10059,  a negative  allosteric
modulator (NAM) of  metabotropic glutamate receptor  5 (mGluR5),  has
demonstrated clinically  and  statistically significant  efficacy  in
separate Phase IIa clinical trials in gastroesophageal reflux disease
(GERD) patients and  migraine headache patients.  It also will  start
Phase IIb testing for migraine  prevention during the fourth  quarter
of 2008.

The Addex allosteric  modulation discovery  and development  platform
has  been  additionally  validated  through  three  separate  product
license agreements with Merck  & Co., Inc. and  Johnson & Johnson  as
well as  investments  by  Roche  Ventures and  SR  One,  the  venture
investment arm of GlaxoSmithKline.

Contact
Chris Maggos
Head of IR & Communications
Addex Pharmaceuticals
+41 22 884 15 11
chris.maggos@addexpharma.com


Disclaimer
The foregoing release may contain forward-looking statements that can
be identified by  terminology such as  "not approvable",  "continue",
"believes", "believe", "will", "remained open to exploring", "would",
"could", or similar expressions, or by express or implied discussions
regarding Addex  Pharmaceuticals  Ltd, its  business,  the  potential
approval of  its products  by  regulatory authorities,  or  regarding
potential future revenues  from such  products. Such  forward-looking
statements reflect  the current  views of  Addex Pharmaceuticals  Ltd
regarding future events,  future economic  performance or  prospects,
and, by their very nature, involve inherent risks and  uncertainties,
both general and specific, whether known or unknown, and/or any other
factor  that  may  materially  differ  from  the  plans,  objectives,
expectations, estimates and intentions  expressed or implied in  such
forward-looking statements.  Such  may  in  particular  cause  actual
results with allosteric modulators of mGluR2, mGluR4, mGluR5,  mGluR7
or other  therapeutic targets  to be  materially different  from  any
future results, performance or  achievements expressed or implied  by
such statements. There can be no guarantee that allosteric modulators
of mGluR2, mGluR4, mGluR5,  mGluR7 will be approved  for sale in  any
market or by any regulatory authority. Nor can there be any guarantee
that allosteric modulators of mGluR2, mGluR4, mGluR5, mGluR7 or other
therapeutic targets will achieve any particular levels of revenue (if
any)  in  the  future.   In  particular,  management's   expectations
regarding  allosteric modulators of mGluR2, mGluR4, mGluR5, mGluR7 or
other therapeutic targets could be  affected by, among other  things,
unexpected actions by our partners, unexpected regulatory actions  or
delays or government regulation generally; unexpected clinical  trial
results,  including  unexpected  new  clinical  data  and  unexpected
additional  analysis  of  existing  clinical  data;  competition   in
general; government, industry and  general public pricing  pressures;
the  company's  ability  to  obtain  or  maintain  patent  or   other
proprietary intellectual property protection.  Should one or more  of
these  risks  or  uncertainties  materialize,  or  should  underlying
assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially  from
those   anticipated,   believed,   estimated   or   expected.   Addex
Pharmaceuticals Ltd  is  providing  the  information  in  this  press
release as of  this date  and does  not undertake  any obligation  to
update any forward-looking statements contained in this press release
as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as
may be required by applicable laws.


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