September 30, 2002

Neurochem announces positive development for its Alzheimer's Disease program.
IND in the U.S. for Alzhemed™ Takes Effect and Phase II Clinical Trial Gets Initiated.

Neurochem Inc. (TSX : NRM) announced today that its IND application for the drug candidate Alzhemed™ to be used in the treatment of Alzheimer's Disease (AD) has been cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The application was filed last August 27, and its clearance 30 days later by the FDA allows Neurochem to move forward without delay on its accelerated development program for this product candidate.

"This is very good news and a highly significant milestone in moving forward the Alzhemed™ drug development program," said Dr. Louis R. Lamontagne, President and CEO of Neurochem. "We can now continue on schedule to initiate a Phase II clinical trial in the U.S. and recruit in the upcoming weeks patients suffering from mild to moderate stage Alzheimer's Disease. Alzhemed™ is part of a new class of drug candidates aimed at modifying the course of Alzheimer's Disease by preventing amyloid formation and deposition in the brain as implicated in the disease. This drug could therefore represent an important breakthrough in responding to an increasingly prevalent medical need," Dr. Lamontagne added.

The Phase II clinical trial will investigate the safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetic profile of Alzhemed™ in patients with mild to moderate AD. Specifically, the study will determine optimal dosing regimens for subsequent pivotal efficacy trials. The effect of Alzhemed™ on the amyloid ß (Aß) protein (the pharmacological target for drug activity) levels in cerebrospinal fluid and plasma will also be evaluated. The study is designed as a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled and parallel design study. A total of 48 AD patients will receive placebo or Alzhemed™ (3 dose levels) for a period of three months.

Neurochem has previously investigated the safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetic profiles of Alzhemed™ in healthy volunteers in one multiple-dose and three single-dose Phase I clinical trials involving a total of 117 healthy subjects. In all four studies, Alzhemed™ was shown to be safe and well tolerated at the anticipated therapeutic dose in both young and elderly volunteers.

"Neurochem is a world leader in the amyloid field," said Dr. Lamontagne. "We recently filed another IND application for Cerebril™, our drug candidate for hemorrhagic stroke soon to enter Phase II trials, and we also have an on-going pivotal Phase II/III trial for our most advanced program, Fibrillex™, for the treatment of life threatening secondary amyloidosis."

About Alzhemed™

Alzhemed™ is an oral small organic molecule that has been specifically designed to modify the course of the disease by interfering with the association between glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) and Aß amyloid protein. Alzhemed™ as part of a "disease modifying" class of drug candidates, is expected to act at two levels: to prevent and stop the formation and deposition of amyloid fibrils in the brain and in binding to soluble Aß, to inhibit the inflammatory response associated with amyloid build-up in Alzheimer's Disease. Its anti-amyloid effectiveness has been demonstrated in an aggressive transgenic mouse model of brain amyloid with a significant 61% reduction in Aß plasma levels and a 30% reduction in Aß brain soluble and insoluble fractions after only 8 weeks of treatment.

About Neurochem

Neurochem is an industry leader in the development of therapeutic drugs and diagnostic tools for central nervous system (CNS) and amyloid-related diseases associated with aging. The Company has to date advanced three drug candidates to clinical trials: Fibrillex™, for the life-threatening orphan disease, secondary amyloidosis in a pivotal Phase II/III clinical trial, Alzhemed™, for the treatment of Alzheimer's Disease advancing to Phase II clinical trials, and Cerebril™, for hemorrhagic stroke also advancing to Phase II clinical trials. The Company has built a strong product pipeline by developing a novel, proprietary series of compounds that inhibit the formation, deposition and toxic effects of amyloid fibrils within the body. Neurochem's overall therapeutic programs target CNS disorders including Alzheimer's disease, epileptic seizures caused by head trauma or acute brain injury, and hemorrhagic stroke (due to cerebral amyloid angiopathy), and other life-threatening diseases including systemic amyloidosis and amyloid-associated diabetes type II. (www.neurochem.com).

All of the statements contained in this news release, other than statements of fact which are independently verifiable at the date hereof, are forward-looking statements. Such statements, based as they are on the current expectations of management, inherently involve numerous risks and uncertainties, known and unknown. Some examples of known risks are: the impact of general economic conditions, general conditions in the pharmaceutical industry, changes in the regulatory environment in the jurisdictions in which Neurochem does business, stock market volatility, fluctuations in costs, and changes to the competitive environment due to consolidation or otherwise. Consequently, actual future results may differ materially from the anticipated results expressed in the forward-looking statements.

For further Information, please contact:
Dr. Lise Hébert
Vice President, Corporate Communications
lhebert@neurochem.com

275 Armand-Frappier
Laval (Quebec)
H7V 4A7
Tel: (450) 680-4500
Fax: (450) 680-4501

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