[ Stockholm , Sweden , August 26, 2005.] Swedish drug development company OxyPharma has successfully completed its preclinical safety and toxicity program for the company's drug for the treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA). OxyPharma now plans to take the RA drug into phase I clinical studies.

OxyPharma, the Swedish drug development company focusing on RA and MS drugs, has successfully completed its preclinical safety evaluation studies on the company's patented RA candidate drug Rob 803. The safety and toxicity studies were designed and carried out in accordance with international requirements for the safety evaluation of human pharmaceuticals as stipulated by e.g. the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), European Medicines Agency (EMEA), and the International Conference on Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Registration of Pharmaceuticals for Human Use (ICH).

OxyPharma now plans to take Rob 803 into phase I clinical studies, possibly as soon as October 2005. Phase IIa clinical studies of the compound may start in mid 2006.

Rob 803 has been developed from OxyPharma's patented lead compound B-220, from which OxyPharma has developed several analogue substances, including Rob 895 which was recently selected as a candidate drug for the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS).

“ The positive preclinical results are a milestone for us and pave the way for first-time-in-human clinical studies to be commenced as soon as possible. I am obviously very happy with the development so far and optimistic for the future”, said Ulf Björklund, CEO, OxyPharma.

At present, there are no effective, safe and easily administrated drugs for the treatment of RA, a disease that affect millions of people worldwide. However, preclinical studies and the recently completed safety program indicate that OxyPharma's substance can be effective, easy to administrate (orally) and may be produced at low cost compared with current products. The value of the RA market is estimated at more than USD 3bn annually, and is growing rapidly.