Keryx Biopharmaceuticals Announces Upcoming Presentations on KRX-0401 (Perifosine) at 53rd Annual Meeting of American Society of Hematology

NEW YORK, Dec. 5, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Keryx Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: KERX) (the "Company") today announced that the following abstracts on perifosine, the Company's novel, potentially first-in-class, oral anti-cancer drug candidate that inhibits Akt activation in the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) pathway, have been selected for presentation during the upcoming 53rd Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH), to be held December 10 -13, 2011, at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, California:

A copy of the above referenced abstracts can be viewed online through the ASH meeting website, http://ash.confex.com/ash/2011/webprogram/start.html.

KRX-0401 (perifosine) is in-licensed by Keryx from Aeterna Zentaris Inc. in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

About Keryx Biopharmaceuticals, Inc.

Keryx Biopharmaceuticals is focused on the acquisition, development and commercialization of medically important pharmaceutical products for the treatment of cancer and renal disease. Keryx is developing KRX-0401 (perifosine), a novel, potentially first-in-class, oral anti-cancer agent that inhibits Akt activation in the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) pathway, and also affects a number of other key signal transduction pathways, including the JNK pathway, all of which are pathways associated with programmed cell death, cell growth, cell differentiation and cell survival. KRX-0401 is currently in Phase 3 clinical development for both refractory advanced colorectal cancer and multiple myeloma, and in Phase 1 and 2 clinical development for several other tumor types. Each of the KRX-0401 Phase 3 studies is being conducted under a Special Protocol Assessment (SPA) agreement with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Keryx is also developing Zerenex (ferric citrate), an oral, ferric iron-based compound that has the capacity to bind to phosphate and form non-absorbable complexes. The Phase 3 clinical program of Zerenex in the treatment for hyperphosphatemia (elevated phosphate levels) in patients with end-stage renal disease is being conducted pursuant to an SPA agreement with the FDA. Keryx is headquartered in New York City.

Cautionary Statement

Some of the statements included in this press release, particularly those anticipating future clinical trials and business prospects for KRX-0401 may be forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. For those statements, we claim the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Among the factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially are the following: our ability to successfully and cost-effectively complete clinical trials for KRX-0401 (perifosine); the risk that the data (both safety and efficacy) from the ongoing Phase 3 clinical trial will not coincide with the data analyses from prior pre-clinical and clinical trials previously reported by the Company, or will not meet the key efficacy and safety parameters specified in the Special Protocol Assessment; and other risk factors identified from time to time in our reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Any forward-looking statements set forth in this press release speak only as of the date of this press release. We do not undertake to update any of these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that occur after the date hereof. This press release and prior releases are available at http://www.keryx.com. The information found on our website and the American Society of Hematology's meeting website is not incorporated by reference into this press release and is included for reference purposes only.

KERYX CONTACT:
Lauren Fischer
Director - Investor Relations
Keryx Biopharmaceuticals, Inc.
Tel: 212.531.5965
E-mail: [email protected]

SOURCE Keryx Biopharmaceuticals, Inc.