EpiCept Corporation Appoints Alan W. Dunton, M.D. Non-Executive Chairman of the Board

EpiCept Corporation Appoints Alan W. Dunton, M.D. Non-Executive Chairman of the
Board

 

TARRYTOWN, N.Y. (January 5, 2012) – EpiCept Corporation (Nasdaq OMX Stockholm
Exchange and OTCQX: EPCT) today announced that Alan W. Dunton, M.D., has been
appointed to the Company’s Board of Directors and named Non-Executive Chairman,
effective immediately. Dr. Dunton replaces Bob Savage in this role, who remains
on the Board as a Director. With the addition of Dr. Dunton, EpiCept’s Board has
seven Directors.

Dr. Dunton is the Founder of Danerius, LLC, a consulting company that advises
pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies on issues related to drug
development, licensing and regulatory matters. He is currently a Director at
Targacept, Inc., Palatin Technologies and Oragenics, Inc. From 2007 to 2009 Dr.
Dunton served as President and CEO of Panacos Pharmaceuticals Inc., a
NASDAQ-listed biotechnology company. At Panacos he guided an HIV product into
late-stage clinical development and its subsequent sale.

From 2003 to 2005 Dr. Dunton was President, CEO and a Director of Metaphore
Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and served as Chairman of ActivBiotics, Inc. in 2006
after the two companies merged. In 2002 he was President and COO of Emisphere
Technologies, Inc. From 1994 to 2002 Dr. Dunton was a senior executive in
various capacities within the Pharmaceuticals Group of Johnson & Johnson,
including President of The Janssen Research Foundation where he was responsible
for the development and regulatory activities for such blockbuster drugs as
Levaquin®, Topamax® and Risperdal® line extensions. Earlier in his career he
held clinical research and clinical pharmacology positions at Syntex
Corporation, Ciba-Geigy Corporation, Hoffmann La Roche Inc. and Revlon Health
Care Group.

“Dr. Dunton is a seasoned pharmaceutical executive with extensive Board-level
experience, and we are delighted that he has joined EpiCept as Non-Executive
Chairman,” said Jack Talley, EpiCept’s President and CEO. “Given the recent
success with the FDA regarding the future of AmiKet in neuropathic pain, the
Board believes that his business leadership and deep experience in clinical
development and regulatory issues makes him highly qualified to lead the Board
in its oversight and governance as EpiCept seeks to create the greatest possible
shareholder value leveraging its product portfolio.”

Dr. Dunton received his M.D. degree from New York University School of Medicine,
completed his residency in internal medicine at NYU Medical Center and was a
fellow in clinical pharmacology at Cornell University Medical College/New York
Hospital. His teaching appointments include Stanford University School of
Medicine, Newark Beth Israel Medical Center and NYU Medical Center.

About EpiCept Corporation

EpiCept is focused on the development and commercialization of pharmaceutical
products for the treatment of cancer and pain. The Company's pain portfolio
includes AmiKet™, a prescription topical analgesic cream in late-stage clinical
development designed to provide effective long-term relief of pain associated
with peripheral neuropathies. The Company's lead oncology product is Ceplene®,
which has been granted full marketing authorization by the European Commission
for the remission maintenance and prevention of relapse in adult patients with
Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) in first remission. The Company has other oncology
drug candidates currently in clinical development that were discovered using
in-house technology and have been shown to act as vascular disruption agents in
a variety of solid tumors.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release and any oral statements made with respect to the information
contained in this news release contain forward-looking statements within the
meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such
forward-looking statements include statements which express plans, anticipation,
intent, contingency, goals, targets, future development and are otherwise not
statements of historical fact. These statements are based on our current
expectations and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual
results or developments to be materially different from historical results or
from any future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.
Factors that may cause actual results or developments to differ materially
include: the risk that Ceplene® will not receive regulatory approval or
marketing authorization in the United States or Canada, the risk that Ceplene®
will not achieve significant commercial success, the risk that any required
post-approval clinical study for Ceplene® will not be successful, the risk that
we will not be able to maintain our final regulatory approval or marketing
authorization for Ceplene®, the risks associated with the adequacy of our
existing cash resources and our ability to continue as a going concern, the
risks associated with our ability to continue to meet our obligations under our
existing debt agreements, the risk that Azixa™ will not receive regulatory
approval or achieve significant commercial success, the risk that we will not
receive any significant payments under our agreement with Myrexis, the risk that
the development of our other apoptosis product candidates will not be
successful, the risk that clinical trials for AmiKet™ or crolibulinTM will not
be successful, the risk that AmiKet™ or crolibulinTM will not receive regulatory
approval or achieve significant commercial success, the risk that we will not be
able to find a partner to help conduct the Phase III trials for AmiKet™ on
attractive terms, a timely basis or at all, the risk that our other product
candidates that appeared promising in early research and clinical trials do not
demonstrate safety and/or efficacy in larger-scale or later-stage clinical
trials, the risk that we will not obtain approval to market any of our product
candidates, the risks associated with dependence upon key personnel, the risks
associated with reliance on collaborative partners and others for further
clinical trials, development, manufacturing and commercialization of our product
candidates; the cost, delays and uncertainties associated with our scientific
research, product development, clinical trials and regulatory approval process;
our history of operating losses since our inception; the highly competitive
nature of our business; risks associated with litigation; the risk that our
securities may be delisted from Nasdaq; and risks associated with our ability to
protect our intellectual property. These factors and other material risks are
more fully discussed in our periodic reports, including our reports on Forms
8-K, 10-Q and 10-K and other filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission. You are urged to carefully review and consider the disclosures found
in our filings which are available at
www.sec.gov (http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/_ylt=AgfqFPfVOEK5M4_Rv8aJvhTjba9_;_ylu=X3oD
MTEzM2pvaWgxBHBvcwMyBHNlYwNuZXdzYXJ0Ym9keQRzbGsDd3d3c2VjZ292/SIG=15t064n6f/**htt
p%3A/cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT%3Fid=smartlink%26url=http%253A%252F%252Fwww.sec.
gov%26esheet=6170045%26lan=en_US%26anchor=www.sec.gov%26index=2%26md5=61ec7b7204
4301e411e3335754ee5c07) or at
www.epicept.com (http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/_ylt=AhBuoawHw6iS3RhJOH9dNNfjba9_;_ylu=
X3oDMTE2OGhhcWs4BHBvcwMzBHNlYwNuZXdzYXJ0Ym9keQRzbGsDd3d3ZXBpY2VwdGNv/SIG=1659ogl
un/**http%3A/cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT%3Fid=smartlink%26url=http%253A%252F%252F
www.epicept.com%26esheet=6170045%26lan=en_US%26anchor=www.epicept.com%26index=3%
26md5=8b3a48c3367e26fcfbd15295b6d82118). You are cautioned not to place undue
reliance on any forward-looking statements, any of which could turn out to be
wrong due to inaccurate assumptions, unknown risks or uncertainties or other
risk factors.

*Azixa is a registered trademark of Myrexis, Inc.

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EPCT-GEN

EpiCept Corporation:
Robert W. Cook, 914-606-3500
rcook@epicept.com
or
Media:
Feinstein Kean Healthcare
Greg Kelley, 617-577-8110
gregory.kelley@fkhealth.com
or
Investors:
LHA
Kim Sutton Golodetz, 212-838-3777
kgolodetz@lhai.com
or
Bruce Voss, 310-691-7100
bvoss@lhai.com