Avexa Bolsters Board of Directors and Appoints New Chairman

Business Wire, Oct 6, 2008

MELBOURNE, Australia -- Avexa Limited (ASX:AVX) today announced that Nathan Drona will replace Stephen Cooper as Chairman of the Board while David Bottomley and Alan Boyd represent new additions to the Board. Mr. Cooper, who was serving as interim Chairman, will be stepping down from the Board to focus on his activities as a director at Grant Samuel.

"We are transitioning to a key period as ATC's Phase 3 trial advances and the balance of the pipeline begins to mature. To this end, it is imperative to strengthen our leadership team with expertise in business development and M&A as we look to maximize the potential of ATC," said Julian Chick, PhD, Chief Executive Officer. "We are extremely grateful for Stephen's guidance over the past three years as the Company achieved important clinical and corporate milestones during his tenure and wish him well."

Nathan Drona joined Avexa as a Non-Executive Director on 17 April 2008. Mr. Drona is an investment banker in the life sciences industry and has successfully advised numerous companies in the U.S., Europe, and Australia in mergers and acquisitions. He has held a variety of senior management positions in the U.S., most recently as managing director of Challiss, based in New York.

David Bottomley joins the board of Avexa as a non-executive Director of the company. He is currently a principal and founder of Ryder Capital, an independent Australian corporate advisory firm. Mr. Bottomley has significant experience in originating and executing M&A advisory and capital markets transactions in Australia, the U.S., U.K. and Europe. He has held executive positions with Kleinwort Benson, Merrill Lynch (London) investment banking division and was managing director, Australia of specialist life science investment banking firm GMCG, LLC from 2004 until June 2008.

Alan Boyd has had over 24 years of finance experience and currently serves as Avexa's Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Boyd began his career as a Chartered Accountant in the U.K. and Australia prior to transitioning to the role of CFO and Company Secretary. In 2002, he joined Amrad Corporation, where he provided financial and administrative services to Avexa under a service agreement for two years prior to joining the company as CFO in April 2007.

About ATC

ATC (apricitabine) is a cytidine analogue nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NRTI) which works by interfering with the nucleoside reverse transcriptase enzyme, thereby stopping viral replication. It is being developed for treatment resistant HIV specifically with patients who develop the M184V mutation. In March 2008, Avexa announced positive data from ATC's Phase 2b clinical trial showing 90% of HIV patients on ATC had viral levels below detectable after 48 weeks. In several clinical trials, ATC has proven to be safe and effective in over 100 patients and is currently in Phase 3 trials for treatment experienced patients who have failed 3TC therapy.

www.avexa.com.au

Avexa Limited is a Melbourne-based biotechnology company with a focus on research and development of drugs for the treatment of infectious diseases. Avexa has dedicated resources and funding for key projects including its HIV integrase program and an antibiotic program for antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections which have both entered the IND-enabling study stage. The Company's lead program is apricitabine (ATC), an anti-HIV drug which has successfully completed the 48 week dosing of its Phase 2b trial and has recently initiated Phase 3 trials.