Affymax Announces Participation in Upcoming Conferences

Affymax Announces Participation in Upcoming Conferences

PALO ALTO, Calif., Sept. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Affymax, Inc., a privately held development stage pharmaceutical company, today announced that Arlene M. Morris, the company's president and chief executive officer, will present at three upcoming conferences in September:

Thomas Weisel Partners' Healthcare Conference 2005 on Wednesday,September 7, at 1:30 p.m. ET in Boston.

Bear Stearns' 18th Annual Healthcare Conference on Tuesday, September 13 at 2:00 p.m. ET in New York City.

UBS' Global Life Sciences Conference on Wednesday, September 28 at 10:30 a.m. ET in New York City.

Ms. Morris will provide an update on the clinical development program for the Company's lead investigational product, Hematide(TM), a synthetic peptide-based erythropoiesis stimulating agent (ESA) that is being developed to stimulate production of red blood cells for the treatment of anemia in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and cancer. In July, Affmyax began enrollment of patients in a second Phase 2 trial of Hematide at several clinical sites in the U.S. to evaluate the safety, pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics of repeat intravenous injections of Hematide in the maintenance of hemoglobin (the oxygen-carrying protein in red blood cells) levels in patients on hemodialysis. Another Phase 2 trial is ongoing in Great Britain in patients with CKD who have not yet started dialysis.

About Affymax, Inc.

Affymax, Inc. is a development stage pharmaceutical company that is developing novel peptide drugs for the treatment of various blood, cancer and kidney diseases. Affymax is building a rich pipeline of synthetic peptide-based drugs against clinically-validated targets that will provide superior product profiles over therapeutic proteins. Advantages of peptide-based drugs can include reduced immunogenicity, reduced dosing frequency, flexible storage and uncomplicated chemical synthesis. Hematide(TM), the Company's first product candidate to enter the clinic, is a peptide-based drug designed to stimulate the production of red blood cells. It is being developed for the treatment of anemia associated with chronic kidney disease and cancer, an $11 billion worldwide market. In addition, the Company is also advancing research on Gematide(TM), a peptide-based agonist of the Granulocyte Colony Stimulating Factor receptor, and on Keratide(TM), a peptide-based agonist of the Keratinocyte Growth Factor receptor, and has entered into a research collaboration with EntreMed, Inc. for the synthesis and development of novel peptides that prevent blood vessel formation in tumors.

Source: Affymax, Inc.

CONTACT: Mary Fermi, Senior Director of Commercial Development of
Affymax, Inc., +1-650-812-8722; or Daryl Messinger of WeissComm Partners,
Inc., +1-415-999-2361, or daryl@weisscommpartners.com, for Affymax, Inc.

Web site: http://www.affymax.com/

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