Enzon Announces Two Oral Presentations at the Symposium of Drug Delivery Systems in Nanjing, China

PISCATAWAY, NJ -- (Marketwire) -- 11/08/12 -- Enzon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ENZN) today announced two oral presentations at the 2nd Annual Symposium of Drug Delivery Systems-2012, which is being held November 8-10 in Nanjing, China. The presentations will highlight Enzon's Customized Linker Technology®, the conjugation of a molecule using customizable linkers to polyethylene glycol (PEG) resulting in either permanent or releasable PEGylation. PEGylation is a proven drug delivery technology pioneered by Enzon and known to improve the pharmaceutical properties of therapeutic molecules.

The first oral presentation, titled "PEG-based Prodrugs Improve the Anticancer Activity of Small Molecule Cytotoxics," will be given by Hong Zhao, PhD, Senior Director of Chemistry at Enzon, and Session Chair for "Current Innovative Drug Delivery Systems for Treating Major Diseases." Dr. Zhao's presentation is scheduled to take place on Thursday, November 8, 2012 at 14:55 CST (13:55 EST).

Dr. Zhao's presentation will cover the use of Enzon's innovative, releasable Customized Linker Technology® as a means of improving the therapeutic activity of approved small molecule cytotoxic agents. The presentation will include data demonstrating the ability of Enzon's releasable PEG linkers to increase solubility, provide extended exposure of the released cytotoxic, reduce unwanted toxicities, improve tumor accumulation of the cytotoxic agent and, most remarkably, dramatically enhance antitumor activity in animal models compared to non-PEGylated agents. Dr. Zhao will also highlight the use of PEGylation with anti-cancer agents in the clinic, including the Enzon-developed molecule PEG-SN38, which is currently undergoing clinical evaluation in patients with advanced colorectal, breast, or pediatric cancers. Development and commercialization rights to PEG-SN38 in China were licensed in May 2012 to Zhejiang Hisun Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd.

The second oral presentation, titled "The Proven Therapeutic Utility of Permanent and Releasable PEGylation Linkers," will be given by Charles D. Conover, PhD, Senior Vice President, R&D Program Management at Enzon, and Session Chair for "Breaking Research and Technologies of Drug Delivery Systems." Dr. Conover's presentation is scheduled to take place on Saturday, November 10, 2012 at 08:30 CST (07:30 EST).

Dr. Conover will present an overview of Enzon's innovative, permanent and releasable Customized Linker Technology® in commercial, clinical and research applications across disease areas and therapeutic classes. Enzon has developed the industry leading PEGylation technologies utilizing both permanent and releasable Customized Linker Technology®. To date, the Company's technology and know-how have been used to develop eight marketed products with combined annual sales of over $3 billion. Specifically, Dr. Conover will discuss how certain molecules, which may include peptides, antibody fragments, small molecules, chemokines, certain hormones, and small engineered binding domains, many of which lose their biological activity after PEG conjugation, may benefit from PEGylation through the use of novel releasable PEG linkers. Such linkers allow programmed release of intact, fully functional, native drug molecules inside the body.

Companies interested in partnership opportunities to gain access to Enzon's PEGylation technology can contact Enzon at partnering@enzon.com

About Enzon's Customized Linker Technology®

PEGylation has successfully been used on various pharmaceutical compounds, including enzymes, peptides and antibodies, to improve their pharmaceutical properties through the chemical attachment of polyethylene glycol (PEG) using our Customized Linker Technology. PEGylation technology employs proprietary chemical linkers designed to either release the native molecule at a controlled rate or provide permanent linkage that will maximize inherent activity of the parent molecule. In some cases, PEGylation can render a compound therapeutically effective, whereas the unmodified form had only limited clinical utility.

About Enzon

Enzon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a biotechnology company dedicated to the research and development of innovative therapeutics for patients with high unmet medical need. Enzon's drug-development programs utilize two platforms: Customized PEGylation Linker Technology (Customized Linker Technology®) and third-generation mRNA-targeting agents utilizing the Locked Nucleic Acid (LNA) technology. Enzon currently has four compounds in human clinical development and multiple novel mRNA antagonists in preclinical research. Enzon receives royalty revenues from licensing arrangements with other companies related to sales of products developed using its proprietary Customized Linker Technology. Further information about Enzon and this press release can be found on the Company's website at www.enzon.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains, or may contain, forward-looking statements within the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements contained in this press release, other than statements that are purely historical, are forward-looking statements, which can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as the words "believes," "expects," "may," "will," "should," "potential," "anticipates," "plans," or "intends" and similar expressions.

Such forward-looking statements are based upon management's present expectations, objectives, anticipation, plans, hopes, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future and are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, events or developments to be materially different from those indicated in such forward-looking statements. The results of preclinical data are not necessarily indicative of clinical efficacy. A more detailed discussion of these and other factors that could affect results is contained in Enzon's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including Enzon's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2011. These factors should be considered carefully and readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. No assurance can be given that the future results covered by the forward-looking statements will be achieved. All information in this press release is as of the date of this press release and Enzon does not intend to update this information.

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Source: Enzon Pharmaceuticals

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