Keryx Biopharmaceuticals Adds Three Clinical-Stage Oncology Drug Candidates to 
     its Pipeline, Including a Novel, First-in-Class, Oral AKT-Inhibitor  
                                 In Phase II 
 
 Signs Agreement to Acquire Privately-Held Cancer Company - ACCESS Oncology, 
                                     Inc. 
 
Keryx to hold a conference call today, Thursday, January 8, at 10:00 AM EST to 
               discuss this acquisition, call-in details below 
 
    NEW YORK, Jan. 8 -- Keryx Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. 
(Nasdaq: KERX, London AIM: KRX) announced today that it has entered into an 
agreement to acquire ACCESS Oncology, Inc., a privately-held cancer-focused 
biotechnology company.   
    The acquired drug portfolio includes three clinical stage compounds, to be 
designated as KRX-0401, KRX-0402 and KRX-0403.  KRX-0401 is a novel,  
first-in-class, oral AKT-inhibitor that has demonstrated single agent  
anti-tumor activity in Phase I studies and is currently in 9 Phase II single 
agent clinical trials in 6 tumor types, including, breast, prostate, melanoma, 
pancreatic, sarcoma and head and neck cancer, being conducted by the NCI under 
a Collaborative Research and Development Agreement ("CRADA") arrangement.  
Activation of the AKT pathway is believed to play an important role in cell 
survival and cell proliferation.  KRX-0401 is a potent inhibitor of AKT 
activation and is believed to be the only AKT inhibitor in clinical 
development primarily for the treatment of cancer.  Additionally, KRX-0401 has 
been shown to significantly inhibit additional signal transduction pathways 
including, MAPK and JNK, adding to its anti-cancer effects.  Moreover,  
pre-clinical data generated suggests significant synergy with other  
anti-cancer therapies.  Accordingly, in 2004, Keryx plans to commence studies 
of KRX-0401 in combination with chemotherapy in multiple cancer types.  Based 
on KRX-0401's novel mechanism of action, ease of administration (oral), and 
potential applicability to a broad group of tumor types, Keryx believes that 
KRX-0401 represents a major market opportunity. 
    The acquired cancer portfolio also includes KRX-0402, an inhibitor of DNA 
repair, which is also being studied by the NCI under a CRADA arrangement in 
multiple Phase II clinical trials.  In addition, the portfolio includes  
KRX-0403, which is a novel spindle poison in the same general class as 
Taxol(R), Taxotere(R) and Navelbine(R).  KRX-0403 has completed a Phase I 
study and is expected to enter Phase II studies in 2004.    
    In connection with the acquisition, Keryx will assume approximately  
$7.5 million in ACCESS liabilities and, subject to the achievement of certain 
clinical, regulatory and sales milestones, will issue up to 4 million shares 
of common stock as consideration for all of the shares of ACCESS.  Keryx must 
obtain shareholder approval in order to issue shares of Keryx common stock as 
merger consideration to be issued upon achievement of the milestones.   
    ACCESS Oncology was founded in 1999 by Michael S. Weiss, Chairman and 
Chief Executive Officer of Keryx, and has been headed by its President and 
CEO, I. Craig Henderson, MD, since 2001.  From 1995 through 1999, Dr. 
Henderson served as the Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of 
Directors of SEQUUS Pharmaceuticals, Inc.  In 1999, following the acquisition 
of SEQUUS by ALZA, Dr. Henderson served as a director of and Senior Consultant 
to ALZA from 1999 until ALZA was acquired by J&J in 2002.  Dr. Henderson is 
also a world-renowned breast cancer clinician and researcher, first at the 
Dana-Farber Cancer Center and thereafter as the Medical Director of the UCSF 
Cancer Center.  Dr. Henderson also served as the Chairman of the FDA's 
Oncologic Drug Advisory Committee (ODAC) from 1990-1992.  Following the 
acquisition, Dr. Henderson will be appointed as a Board member and President 
of Keryx and will head up Keryx's oncology effort.    
    "This is a very important day for Keryx shareholders.  This deal 
immediately builds out our oncology franchise with three very exciting drug 
candidates and tremendous expertise in cancer drug development.  Adding three 
promising clinical-stage oncology compounds to our lead drug candidate,  
KRX-101, is a major achievement for Keryx," commented Michael S. Weiss.  Mr. 
Weiss continued, "As founder of ACCESS, I am very familiar with these product 
candidates and have a high level of confidence in their potential efficacy in 
treating many forms of cancer.  Additionally, these compounds come with 
significant support from the NCI, one of the world's most preeminent cancer 
research institutions, which is already conducting more than a dozen clinical 
trials for two of the candidates under two separate CRADA arrangements."  
    With respect to the transaction, Dr. Henderson stated, "I have spent my 
career researching and developing cancer drugs and I truly believe that the 
ACCESS products represent some of the most important and exciting drug 
candidates in the field of cancer treatment today.  I am excited to become a 
part of this rapidly evolving organization and am confident that over the next 
12 to 24 months we can achieve significant value creation milestones within 
the ACCESS product portfolio."  
    Ryan Beck & Co., Inc. served as financial advisor to Keryx in this 
transaction and rendered a fairness opinion to the Special Committee of the 
Keryx Board of Directors with respect to the transaction. 
    Keryx will hold a conference call accompanied by a presentation today, 
Thursday, January 8, at 10:00 AM EST to discuss the acquisition of ACCESS 
Oncology.  Participating on the call will be Michael Weiss, Chairman and Chief 
Executive Officer of Keryx Biopharmaceuticals, Dr. Craig Henderson, Chief 
Executive Officer and President of ACCESS Oncology, and Dr. Skip Burris, 
Director of Drug Development for the Sarah Cannon Cancer Center.  To dial in, 
please call 1-800-895-0198 if calling from the U.S., otherwise, please call 
(+1) 785-424-1053.  During the call, the speakers will be referring to a 
PowerPoint web presentation, which can be accessed during the call on Keryx's 
website homepage: www.keryx.com.  The web presentation will also be available 
on the Keryx homepage for several weeks following this conference call. 
 
    About Keryx Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. 
    Keryx Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: KERX; London AIM: KRX) is a 
biopharmaceutical company focused on the acquisition, development and 
commercialization of novel pharmaceutical products for the treatment of  
life-threatening diseases, including diabetes and cancer. Keryx is developing 
KRX-101 (sulodexide), a novel first-in-class oral heparinoid compound, for the 
treatment of diabetic nephropathy, for which Keryx recently commenced its 
U.S.-based Phase II/III clinical program.  Keryx also has an active  
in-licensing program designed to identify and acquire clinical-stage drug 
candidates.  Additionally, Keryx is seeking partners for its KinAce(TM) drug 
discovery technology and related products. Keryx Biopharmaceuticals is 
headquartered in New York City.  
 
    About ACCESS Oncology, Inc. 
    ACCESS Oncology, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company focused on acquiring, 
developing and marketing novel therapeutics for cancer and related conditions.  
ACCESS has built a portfolio of proprietary anti-cancer product candidates 
through the in-licensing and acquiring of clinical-stage product candidates 
from emerging biotechnology companies.   
 
    Cautionary statement 
    Some of the statements included in this press release, particularly those 
anticipating business prospects and operating strategies and similar matters, 
are 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. Important factors may cause our actual results 
to differ materially, including: our ability to successfully integrate the 
operations of ACCESS Oncology into Keryx Biopharmaceuticals; our ability to 
successfully complete cost-effective clinical trials for the ACCESS Oncology 
drug candidates; our ability to successfully complete cost-effective clinical 
trials of KRX-101; and other risk factors identified from time to time in our 
SEC reports, including, but not limited to, the report on Form 10-K for the 
year ended December 31, 2002, and our quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the 
quarter ended September 30, 2003. Any forward-looking statements set forth in 
this news release speak only as of the date of this news release. We do not 
intend 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 www.keryx.com. The information in Keryx's website is 
not incorporated by reference into this press release and is included as an 
inactive textual reference only.  
 
     KERYX CONTACT: 
     Ron Bentsur 
     VP Finance and Investor Relations 
     Keryx Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. 
     Tel: +1-212-531-5965 
     E-mail: ron@keryx.com 
 
SOURCE  Keryx Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. 
    -0-                             01/08/2004 
    /CONTACT:  Ron Bentsur, VP Finance and Investor Relations of Keryx 
Biopharmaceuticals, Inc., +1-212-531-5965, or ron@keryx.com / 
    /Web site:  http://www.keryx.com / 
    (KERX) 
 





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