Press Release Details

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C., Oct. 7, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc., (Nasdaq:BCRX) today announced that results from its successful OPuS-1 (Oral ProphylaxiS-1) proof of concept Phase 2a clinical trial of orally-administered BCX4161 in patients with hereditary angioedema (HAE) will be presented as a late-breaker oral presentation at the 23^rd EADV Congress taking place in Amsterdam October 8-12, 2014.

The presentation titled "BCX4161, an Oral Kallikrein Inhibitor, is effective and safe in the Prophylaxis of Acute Attacks in Patients with Hereditary Angioedema: Results of the Phase 2 Trial OPuS-1," will be presented by Marcus Maurer MD, Professor of Dermatology and Allergy, Charité-Universitäsmedizin, Berlin and the principal investigator for OPuS-1. The presentation will take place during the "Late Breaking News in Dermatology" session on Saturday, October 11 at 1:00 PM Central European Time.

OPuS-1 evaluated 400 mg of BCX4161 administered three times a day for 28 days in HAE patients with a high attack frequency (≥ 1 per week), in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, two-period cross-over design. The primary goals for the trial were to estimate the degree of efficacy of BCX4161 in reducing the frequency of angioedema attacks, and to evaluate the safety and tolerability of 28 days of BCX4161 treatment. The trial met the primary efficacy endpoint and all other objectives established for the trial.

BioCryst expects to initiate its OPuS-2 trial to evaluate the efficacy and safety of BCX4161 treatment for 12 weeks in patients with HAE before the end of 2014.

About BCX4161

Discovered by BioCryst, BCX4161 is a novel, selective inhibitor of plasma kallikrein in development for prevention of attacks in patients with hereditary angioedema (HAE). By inhibiting plasma kallikrein, BCX4161 suppresses bradykinin production. Bradykinin is the mediator of acute swelling attacks in HAE patients.

About Hereditary Angioedema

HAE is a rare, severely debilitating and potentially fatal genetic condition that occurs in about 1 in 10,000 to 1 in 50,000 people. HAE symptoms include recurrent episodes of edema in various locations, including the hands, feet, face, genitalia and airway. In addition, patients often have bouts of excruciating abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting that are caused by swelling in the intestinal wall. Airway swelling is particularly dangerous and can lead to death by asphyxiation. Further information regarding HAE can be found at www.haea.org.

About BioCryst Pharmaceuticals

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals designs, optimizes and develops novel small molecule drugs that block key enzymes involved in infectious and rare diseases, with the goal of addressing unmet medical needs of patients and physicians. BioCryst's core development programs include BCX4161 and two next generation oral inhibitors of plasma kallikrein for hereditary angioedema; peramivir, a viral neuraminidase inhibitor for the treatment of influenza; and BCX4430, a broad spectrum antiviral for hemorrhagic fevers. For more information, please visit the Company's website at www.BioCryst.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements regarding future results, performance or achievements. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause BioCryst's actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performances or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. These statements reflect our current views with respect to future events and are based on assumptions and subject to risks and uncertainties. Given these uncertainties, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Some of the factors that could affect the forward-looking statements contained herein include: that the FDA or similar regulatory agency may refuse to approve subsequent HAE studies, or delay approval of clinical studies which may result in a delay of planned clinical studies and increase development costs of a product candidate; that the FDA may withhold market approval for product candidates; that ongoing and future preclinical and clinical development of HAE second generation candidates may not have positive results; that the Company or its licensees may not be able to continue future development of current and future development programs; that such development programs may never result in future product, license or royalty payments being received; that the Company may not be able to retain its current pharmaceutical and biotechnology partners for further development of its product candidates or may not reach favorable agreements with potential pharmaceutical and biotechnology partners for further development of product candidates. Please refer to the documents BioCryst files periodically with the Securities and Exchange Commission, specifically BioCryst's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and current reports on Form 8-K, all of which identify important factors that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those contained in BioCryst's projections and forward-looking statements.

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CONTACT: Robert Bennett, BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, +1-919-859-7910

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