Medivir Spins out the Antiviral Compound MIV-606 to Epiphany

Under the terms of the agreement Medivir will receive equity inEpiphany, milestone payments of maximally USD 24.5m and royalty fromworld wide sales except the Nordic countries where Medivir hasretained the marketing rights for all disease indications. Epiphanywill be responsible for the further clinical development of MIV-606.

Phase IIa studies have shown MIV-606 to be efficacious and safe inpatients with shingles, caused by the varicella zoster virus (VZV).The market for zoster drugs is going to increase with the agingpopulation. MIV-606 is also a potent inhibitor of other herpesvirusesincreasingly implicated in various diseases such as mononucleosis,chronic fatigue syndrome, multiple sclerosis and the development ofHIV/AIDS.

"We are delighted to collaborate with Epiphany, an emerging USbased company with an interesting project portfolio and support by agroup of outstanding scientists such as Dr Robert Gallo, thediscoverer of herpesvirus type 6 and co-discoverer of HIV, andProfessor Hans Wigzell, Karolinska Institute" comments Lars Adlersson,CEO and President of Medivir.

"Licensing MIV-606 will strengthen Epiphany's portfolio ofprojects in the infectious disease area. The broad spectrum ofherpesviruses inhibited by MIV-606 offers more than one large marketopportunity" says Dr Fred Volinsky, CEO and President of Epiphany.

About Medivir

Medivir develops pharmaceuticals for widely prevalent disease withproteases as the target enzyme. The goal is to become aself-sustaining, profitable, research-based pharmaceutical companywith proprietary products on the market. The company is located inHuddinge, Sweden and Chesterford Research Park, Essex, England.

The group comprises Medivir AB, subsidiary Medivir UK Ltd, MedivirHIV Franchise AB and Medivir Personal AB. At the end of December 2005,the group had 133 employees. Medivir is listed on the O list at theStockholm Stock Exchange (Stockholmsborsen).

Medivir's research portfolio embraces projects on hepatitis C,labial herpes, HIV, osteoporosis, rheumatoid arthritis (RA), chronicobstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and multiple sclerosis (MS).Medivir has seven individual projects in development, of which one hasentered phase III.

Medivir HIV Franchise AB is focused on the development andspin-out of antiviral projects based on polymerase inhibitors.

About Epiphany

Epiphany Bioscience is the first drug development company to focuson systematic disease of viral origin. Epiphany's founding teamincludes a world class group of virologists as well as several AlbertLasker award winners. The founders of Epiphany Biosciences includeFred Volinsky MD, Robert Gallo MD, David Myles MD and Berry SelickPhD. Epiphany is located in San Francisco, Ca. and has receivedfunding from Lee Meisel of Windsor Bay Capital.

For additional information, please see Medivir's websitewww.medivir.com

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