Opexa Therapeutics to Present at the Regenerative Medicine – A Fundamental Shift in Science & Culture Conference

THE WOODLANDS, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Opexa Therapeutics, Inc. (OPXA), a biotechnology company developing Tcelna, a novel T-cell therapy for multiple sclerosis (MS), today announced that Neil K. Warma, President and Chief Executive Officer, will present at The Second International Vatican Adult Stem Cell Conference: Regenerative Medicine A Fundamental Shift in Science & Culture, taking place from within The Vatican, April 11-13, 2013.

The conference is part of a five-year collaboration between The Stem for Life Foundation, a not-for-profit organization devoted to raising global awareness of the therapeutic potential of adult stem cells, NeoStem, a leader in the emerging cellular therapy industry and The Vatican's Pontifical Council for Culture and its foundation, called STOQ International (Science, Theology and the Ontological Quest). Among the conference goals are to raise awareness of existing therapies, reduce misperceptions surrounding the field of cellular research and to foster dialogue among researchers, physicians, philanthropists, faith leaders and policy makers to identify unmet medical needs that can benefit from the development of cell therapies.

Opexa is proud to be a part of this international forum designed to highlight the important contributions made by the cell therapy industry to date and to increase awareness of cellular research and the potential of cell therapies to address unmet medical needs, commented Neil K. Warma, President and Chief Executive Officer of Opexa.

Opexa will be included in a special luncheon, Living with Multiple Sclerosis, featuring Meredith Vieira from NBC news and Richard M. Cohen, journalist and husband of Ms. Vieira.

About Tcelna

Tcelna is a personalized therapy that is specifically tailored to each patient's disease profile. Tcelna is manufactured using ImmPath, Opexa's proprietary method for the production of a patient-specific T-cell immunotherapy, which encompasses the collection of blood from the MS patient, isolation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells, generation of an autologous pool of myelin-reactive T-cells (MRTCs) raised against selected peptides from myelin basic protein (MBP), myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) and proteolipid protein (PLP), and the return of these expanded, attenuated T-cells back to the patient. These attenuated T-cells are reintroduced into the patient via subcutaneous injection to trigger a therapeutic immune system response. Opexa believes the potential combination of efficacy, superior safety, excellent tolerability and administration may position Tcelna as the MS treatment of choice as compared to existing therapeutics.

About Opexa

Opexa is dedicated to the development of patient-specific cellular therapies for the treatment of autoimmune diseases such as MS. The Companys leading therapy candidate, Tcelna, is a personalized cellular immunotherapy that is in Phase IIb clinical development for MS. Tcelna is derived from T-cells isolated from peripheral blood, expanded ex vivo, and reintroduced into the patients via subcutaneous injections. This process triggers a potent immune response against specific subsets of autoreactive T-cells known to attack myelin.

For more information visit the Opexa Therapeutics website at http://www.opexatherapeutics.com.

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Opexa Therapeutics to Present at the Regenerative Medicine - A Fundamental Shift in Science & Culture Conference