XTLbio Highlights Presence at The Liver Meeting XTLbio Highlights Presence at The Liver Meeting HepeX Programs at 54th Annual AASLD include Poster Presentations, Oral Presentation and Exhibitors Booth Rehovot, Israel, 28 October 2003: XTL Biopharmaceuticals Ltd. (LSE:XTL) provided details of key scientific presentations and data released at the 54th Annual Meeting of The American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, October 24 - 28 in Boston, Massachusetts. AASLD - The Liver Meeting -is the premier meeting in the science and practice of hepatology where the cutting edge in the study and treatment of liver and biliary disease is defined. Highlights of XTLbio's presentations included the following: HCV Small Molecule Program - Second New Drug Candidate advances to preclinical development On Monday Oct 27, XTLbio's Chief Scientific Officer, Dr. Shlomo Dagan delivered an Oral Presentation titled IN-VITRO AND IN-VIVO EVALUATION OF HCV POLYMERASE INHIBITORS AS POTENTIAL DRUG CANDIDATES FOR TREATMENT OF CHRONIC HEPATITIS C INFECTION. Dr. Dagan reported that the Company has now advanced to development a small-molecule drug candidate developed to inhibit replication of the hepatitis C virus (HCV). The molecule, one of a series of compounds licensed exclusively to XTLbio, has recently shown good toxicity profiles in preliminary testing, thus advancing it to the next level of pre-clinical development. As previously announced, this family of HCV polymerase inhibitors exhibited biological activity using XTLbio's proprietary HCV in vitro and in vivo pre-clinical drug validation systems. Dr. Dagan also reported that XTLbio's lead polymerase inhibitor remains on track for an IND in 2004. HepeX-C Earlier this year XTLbio released preliminary data regarding from its Phase 1b HepeX-C study. Poster Number 758: CLINICAL EVALUATION OF A HUMAN MONOCLONAL ANTIBODY AGAINST THE ENVELOPE PROTEIN (E2) OF HCV FOR PREVENTION OF HCV INFECTION summarized the final study results and confirmed the clinical activity of HepeX-C in chronic patients. Over 70% (18/25) of the patients, had a greater than 80% decrease in HCV viral load observed at least once following infusion, and one-third of the patients showed a drop of between 1 log and 2.5 logs at least once following infusion. HepeX-C continues to be well tolerated with no drug related serious adverse effects. HepeX-B During 2002, XTL released interim results from Phase 2a trial with HepeX-B and lamivudine in patients with chronic HBV. Poster Presentation 781: PHASE 2 CLINICAL STUDY EVALUATING SAFETY AND EFFICACY OF HEPEX-B, A MIXTURE OF TWO HUMAN MONOCLONAL ANTIBODIES TO HBsAg IN COMBINATION WITH LAMIVUDINE IN CHRONIC HBV PATIENTS reviewed the complete data set from 60 patients, who were treated for periods up to one year. HepeX-B was well tolerated and HBsAg levels were consistently reduced across all patients and administrations. In some patients, when HepeX-B was administered at a sufficient dose and frequency to accomplish antibody excess - HBsAg was continuously suppressed for prolonged periods - up to one year. Additionally, Poster 1773: Viral Dynamics Modeling Indicates that THE MAJOR Mechanism of Action of HepeX-B against Hepatitis B Virus is Acceleration of the Free Virus Clearance was submitted by Prof. Avidan Neumann of Bar Ilan University in collaboration with XTLbio. The poster provided added evidence to support using HepeX-B to rapidly clear the virus in patients. Contacts: XTLbio Dr. Martin Becker, President and CEO, Tel: +972-8-930-4440 Glenn Kazo, CBO, Tel: +1-603-878-9857 Financial Dynamics David Yates, Sarah MacLeod, Tel: +44 (0) 20 7831 3113 About XTLbio XTL Biopharmaceuticals Ltd. (XTLbio) is a biopharmaceutical company developing drugs against hepatitis. XTLbio's HepeX� product line - now in clinical trials - has the potential to introduce revolutionary therapies for viral hepatitis, including prevention of re-infection in transplanted livers, the Company's primary focus, and a longer-term cocktail approach in treating chronic illness. XTLbio believes its primary competitive advantage lies in its patented Trimera� technology, which enables the development of fully human monoclonal antibodies and models of human disease for pre-clinical drug validation. Established in 1993, XTLbio became a public company in 2000 with shares traded on the London Stock Exchange under the symbol XTL. About hepatitis C Hepatitis C is a major public health concern. The World Health Organization estimates that 170 million people worldwide are chronic carriers of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) and that 3 to 4 million people are newly infected each year. It is expected that 25 to 35% of these chronic patients will develop progressive liver disease including cirrhosis and liver cancer. Hepatitis C is the single leading cause of liver transplantation. The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that approximately 4 million people in the United States (almost 2% of the population) have been infected with HCV, of whom, approximately 3 million are chronically ill. Hepatitis C is the cause of an estimated 8,000 to 10,000 deaths annually in the US. About HCV-related liver transplant prophylaxis Approximately 5% of chronic HCV patients will develop end-stage liver disease, and ultimately may require liver transplantation. Today, there is a major problem associated with HCV-related liver transplantation. Although the infected liver - the major source of viral replication - has been removed, free-floating virus in the patient's serum re-infects the healthy transplanted liver in a matter of weeks. Disease progression in re-infected patients is several times faster and, in many cases, a re-transplant becomes necessary. At present, there is no available solution to this problem. About the treatment of chronic hepatitis C The existing first-line chronic HCV therapy is often associated with a 50-60% success rate but it is limited by severe side effects, including anaemia, fatigue, hair loss and depression. Due to the relatively limited efficacy and toxicity of this treatment, chronic HCV is still considered to be an unmet medical need, with estimated worldwide annual sales for all products treating chronic hepatitis C reaching US$4 billion in 2004. HepeX�, Trimera�, XTL� and XTLbio� are trademarks of XTL Biopharmaceuticals Ltd. END

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