ChemGenex Discovery Highlighted At International Diabetes Conference

MELBOURNE, Australia, and MENLO PARK, California U.S.A

June 08, 2006

ChemGenex Pharmaceuticals (ASX: CXS, NASDAQ: CXSP) announced that its Senior Director of Statistical Genomics, John Blangero Ph.D. will present new data on the PSARL gene at the Annual Meeting of the American Diabetes Association in Washington, D.C., USA on Monday, June 12, 2006. Dr Blangero’s presentation will form part of an expert Symposium on Mitochondrial Dysfunction.

It has become increasingly clear that mitochondrial function is integral in the development of type 2 diabetes and Dr Blangero will present recent data and expand on previous reports that a variant in the human PSARL gene is responsible for a significant proportion of the increase in diabetes risk found with aging.

“PSARL is increasingly recognized as playing a critical role in mitochondrial function, and offers unique insights into the onset of diabetes”, said Dr Blangero, who is also a senior scientist at the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research (SFBR) (San Antonio, Texas,USA). “ChemGenex has a strong reputation in understanding the genetics of complex diseases including cancer and diabetes, and using this understanding to develop personalized therapeutics to improve patient outcomes. ChemGenex discovered and patent protected the PSARL gene and is working to develop novel therapeutics that increase PSARL activity as a means to combat the onset of diabetes.”

About ChemGenex Pharmaceuticals Limited (www.chemgenex.com)

ChemGenex Pharmaceuticals is a pharmaceutical development company dedicated to improving the lives of patients by developing therapeutics in the areas of oncology, diabetes, obesity, and depression. ChemGenex harnesses the power of genomics for target discovery and validation, and in clinical trials to develop more individualized therapeutic outcomes. ChemGenex’s lead compound, Ceflatonin®, is currently in phase 2/3 clinical trials for chronic myeloid leukemia and Quinamed® is in phase 2 clinical development for prostate, breast and ovarian cancers. The company has a significant portfolio of anti-cancer, diabetes, obesity and depression programs, several of which have been partnered with international pharmaceutical companies. ChemGenex currently trades on the Australian Stock Exchange under the symbol "CXS" and on NASDAQ under the symbol "CXSP".

Contacts

Dr. Greg Collier (CEO and Managing Director)	Australia +61 3 5227 2752 USA +1 650 474 9800 ext 103
Dr. Dennis Brown (President and Director)	USA +1 650 474 9800 ext 108 Australia +61 3 5227 2703

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